KAY MACKINNON (BRAY)

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KAY MACKINNON (BRAY) Peacefully on May 15, 2000 Kay MacKinnon passed away at the Kelowna General Hospital in Kelowna, B.C. at the age of 99 after a long and full life. Kay was predeceased by her husband, Hugh, in 1976. She is survived by one sister, Dorothy Chambers, of Vancouver and her daughters, Dorothy (Joe) Byrnes and Lorna Hoffman of Long Beach, California and Irene Roche of Winnipeg. Kay also leaves behind nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild as well as many nieces, nephews and their children. Kay was born in Sheffield, England on April 21, 1901, the eldest of ten children. The family moved to Winnipeg in 1907. Kay enjoyed playing piano and as a teenager she and her two younger sisters played during the silent movies at the Bijou Theatre in Winnipeg. Kay married Hugh MacKinnon, a locomotive foreman with the CN railroad, and they were frequently transferred throughout their married life. Kay joined the Eastern Star in 1944 and held several executive positions. She was also very active in every community they moved to. Kay had a passion for politics inherited from her father, R.J. Bray, a political activist during the 1919 Winnipeg Strike. She served as chairman of the school board in Hudson Bay Junction, Sask. and ran as a CCF candidate for St. Boniface during a federal election. Kay and Hugh retired to Kelowna in 1967 after 25 years in Winnipeg. Kay remained active in the Eastern Star and as a member of the CN pension group. She played in their orchestra, accompanied choral groups, and bowled with them well into her nineties. Kay lived a full life and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved her.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 23, 2000