NATALIE JOYCE MACDONALD

Condolences & Memories (7 entries)

• My mother Carol-Anne (nee Bate) loved and admired Natalie. They attended Rupert's Land (now Balmoral) Girl's School together, with the lovely Natalie noted for her "gorgeous hair" and "powers of concentration". Natalie's parents E. Guy Bate and Margaret Carse Bate were my great aunt and uncle. E. Guy graduated from the Manitoba College of Pharmacy in 1909, in the same class as his brother Ernest H. Bate, my great-grandfather, Mayor of Transcona. Together the pharmacists opened several White Owl Drug stores in Winnipeg, and founded Bate and Bate Wholesale Drugs in 1919, located in the historic Bate Building downtown. My mother, Natalie and gifted musician Anne Henderson were good friends as youngsters, called simply "the girls" by the Bate adults. Mother remembers as children they went to wonderful social parties at the Bate households, where the hosting wives especially--Natalie's mother and her aunt Mary Ann Bate--my great grandmother--looked spectacular. Mum remembered a great deal of charity work everyone participated in. She told o f sitting in the White Owl drug store near fort Garry, watching the Bate men tie up prescription packages and serve delicious fountain sodas. Ernest and E. Guy's sister Lottie Ann Bate was longstanding secretary-treasurer of Bate and Bate Wholesale, and Ernest's son Newell King Bate (11 years older than his cousin Natalie) worked and trained in the White Owl Pharmacies as a lad and young man, as Natalie later worked at Bate and Bate. It was truly a family business, conceived by two sons of a perhaps reluctant farmer (George Bate). To me the story is history, and all these people gone. But for my mother, it was lived and happy youth. She remembered Natalie to me as extraordinary, kind, striking, and capable, even as a girl. I write this in hopes Natalie's descendants know her childhood and her legacy just a little better...May flights of angels accompany Natalie in her rest. --Kimberly Bate - Posted by: Kimberly Bate (Relative) on: Jun 05, 2023

• I am simply devastated..darling Natalie..w3 shared so many happy times in Winnipeg and lake of the woods. My deepest love and sympathy go out to Ross and her dear children. I love the picture you chose for her..it is how I best remember her... - Posted by: Joyce Lamont hughes (Very old friend) on: Jan 22, 2020

• Natalie was a kind and gracious woman, who showed her strength of character in many ways. She and her husband ,Ross, were always very open and welcoming. I especially remember and thank her for her kindness to our late son Kristjan. We will miss her. Skuli and Heida - Posted by: Skuli and Heida Sigfusson (Sister and brother-in-law to her daughter and son-in-law) on: Jan 14, 2020

• Dear Ross, Sorry for your loss. Natalie will be missed by all who knew her. Warm Wishes to you and your family. Sincerely Donna Q. Macaw - Posted by: Donna Q. Macaw (long time friend) on: Jan 13, 2020

• Our most sincere condolences on the loss of your Mom, wife and grandmother. Losing a loved one is always hard, and especially around the holidays. We hope your good memories overcome your grief as time passes. Our thoughts are with you. Meliora Petens, Your BH Family - Posted by: Balmoral Hall School (School) on: Jan 13, 2020

• We were so sorry to hear of Natalie’s passing. Our hearts go out to you Ross. Love Doug and Donna - Posted by: Doug and Donna Mulholland (cousin ) on: Jan 11, 2020

• A truly beautiful woman both inside and out. My deepest sympathies to Ross and her family. Kit Peterson Venice Florida - Posted by: Kit Peterson (family friend) on: Jan 11, 2020