MEREDITH ROSE MCCALLUM

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MEREDITH ROSE MCCALLUM
1983 - 2019

It is with great sadness that her family announces the sudden death of Meredith Rose McCallum, beloved wife and loving mother, at her home in Winnipeg on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at the age of 35.
Born in Fergus, Ontario, Meredith was a gifted classical musician who began playing the violin at the age of four, and whose early years of musical education were spent at the Suzuki String School of Guelph. After graduating from Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus in 2002, she pursued advanced degrees in violin performance, earning a Bachelor of Music from McGill University in 2006 and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory in 2008. Upon graduation, she auditioned and won her first professional position in 2009 as Assistant Concertmaster of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 she moved again to join the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, playing initially in the second violin section, then shortly thereafter winning a position in the first violin section which she held until her death. During her schooling and career, Meredith's musical talent allowed her to pursue her love of travelling the world, taking her to many places and music festivals throughout Canada, the US, and abroad to such countries as Germany and Japan to study and perform. At home in Winnipeg, Meredith was active as a private teacher, and appeared as a regular member of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Respected for her elegant playing style and skill in classical performance, she also enjoyed many different genres of music; in her teens she loved to play and sing with a folk group in Tobermory, Ontario near the family cottage, and as an adult in Winnipeg would go on to play for recordings and live performances with many leading local and international folk, rock, jazz, and R&B musicians. From a very young age, Meredith also possessed a remarkable artistic talent, and this creativity would go on to enrich her adult life in many ways.
Meredith is mourned and will be lovingly remembered by her family, including her husband Matt and son James, her parents, Cynthia and Donald McCallum, her sister Susan, her brother David, her brother-in-law Meredith Johnson, and her nieces and nephew, Isla, William and Beatrice. Meredith was married to her beloved Matt Dyce in Elora, Ontario in July 2018. The love and happiness that she and Matt had found in one another was deeply cherished not only by Meredith, but also by her family and close friends for the new joy and contentment it had brought to her life, and to the lives of those dearest to her. Her loss is deeply felt by parents-in-law, Dave and Marilyn Dyce and her brother-in-law Drew. Also bereaved are the Rose, Podolak, Burford, Millar, Jeffers, Parsons and Harper families.
In the last year of her life, Meredith was beset by the terrible pain of depression, and while the disease took many things, it could not take her kindness or her care for others. She endured to give birth to her beloved son, James Alistair, and share with him her light and love. Meredith will be remembered by all who knew her for her kind and gentle spirit, her purity of heart, her love of laughter and whimsical humour, her sense of fun and adventure, her personal integrity, her devotion to family and friends, and her considerate and caring nature. For all those whose lives were so happily touched by hers, knowing Meredith in all her love, joy, beauty and quiet grace was and will always remain a cherished gift.
A service in her memory will be held at the Speedside United Church located at 5903 Wellington County Road 29, Speedside, Ontario on Friday, September 27 at 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, and for those wishing to make a donation, please contact 4babyjames@gmail.com for more information on how to contribute to a trust fund for James Dyce.

Arrangements are entrusted to the
Graham Giddy Funeral Home, Fergus.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 25, 2019