Mary Grace Ralston
Mary Grace Ralston
August 8, 1934 – October 7, 2022
It is with great sadness we announce the death of our mother, Mary (May) Ralston (nee Whyte) on Friday October 7, 2022 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. May was born on August 8, 1934 in Lanark, Scotland. She is the beloved wife of the late James (Jimmy) Alistair Stewart Ralston, whom she met whilst he was doing National Service in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) at Winston Barracks. They married in Scotland in 1953 and moved to Jamaica, Jimmy’s birthplace, in 1957. May moved to Canada in 1991 shortly after Jimmy’s death. May leaves two sons and one daughter – Colin (Wendy), Elizabeth (Don), and John (Lori) – who will all miss her presence in their lives. She will also be missed by her grandchildren – Matthew (Charlotte), Jacqueline (Matthew), Lesley (Igor), Gabriella, Tiffani, Kieran and Jonathan – and by her great grandchildren – Lila, Yvette and Leona – as well as her sister Marian Elizabeth (Betty) Cumming, brother-in-law Ian Ralston (Beverley), and nieces and nephews. May is predeceased by her parents, Robert Jardine Whyte and Agnes Mathieson Frame Whyte (nee Sneddon), brothers Thomas Gracie, Richard Sneddon, William Donald, and sister Helen Matilda Whyte, as well as her half brothers, Ian, James Douglas and Robert Jardine.
May was an honorary life member of the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club. She was a member of the Caledonia Society in Jamaica and very active in Scottish Country Dancing both in Jamaica and in Canada, where she danced with the Don Mills Group. She loved sewing, knitting, crocheting and singing.
A special thank you to the loving and caring staff at Livita Parkway Retirement Residence in Pickering where May enjoyed living for the past three years.
A visitation for May will be held on Saturday, October 29, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home, located at 4115 Lawrence Ave East, Scarborough. A celebration of life service will follow at 11:00 a.m. The service will be live-streamed, and the link will be available at www.giffenmackscarborough.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations in May’s memory may be made to the Salvation Army.
