Elizabeth “Elsie” Thomson
1936- 2026
Elizabeth “Elsie” Thomson passed away peacefully surrounded by the love of family, on March 28th, 2026, in her 89th year.
For 53 years she was the loving wife of Peter who predeceased her in 2007. Beloved mother of Helen Kocmarek (Bill), Brian (Kathleen), Kevin (Monica), Anne Struthers (Peter), and Joan Munro (Robert).
Proud grandmother of Andrea, Daniel, Michael, and Katie Kocmarek, Erin and Peter Thomson, Turner and Taylor Thomson, Jamie, Matthew, and Collin Struthers, and Kendra, Kristin, and Jenna Munro and equally proud of all her 13 great-grandchildren.
Elsie was predeceased by her brother Tom. She will be missed by her brothers Jim, Ian (Joanne) and Nigel (Cathy) Moore and will be fondly remembered by her many nieces and nephews
Elsie was born in the village of Kilbarchan, Scotland on October 26th, 1936, to John and Grace Moore. She was an excellent student and won a scholarship to Paisley Grammar School. In 1954, at the age of 18, she travelled across the ocean to Kitchener Ontario to reunite with her fiancé Peter, a master carpenter. His promise to her when he left Scotland: “Follow me to Canada in three months’ time, I will have found work by then”. That voyage was the beginning of their shared lifelong adventure: raising their five children, building homes and boats, and, in 1975, moving from city to country to take up sheep and cattle farming at their farm near Ayton, Ontario.
Mom was an avid reader who could easily consume several books a week and she inspired a love of learning and reading in all her children. An expert knitter, she always had a project on the go; her Fair Isle sweaters were prized by all. She had a wise and subtle way of giving advice to her husband and children; that advice, and the memories of all the fun we had as a family, will be her legacy.
It was Mom’s wish to pass from this world simply, without a funeral service and visitation. She will be cremated and interred next to Peter at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound. The family plans to have a “Celebration of Life” for Mom’s friends and family this summer.
Mom lived independently until she was 86, but her last years benefited from the kindness and caring of many people, including her friends and neighbours in Owen Sound, Barb Fraser, Adele Armstrong, and Janet Cooke. Our family also wants to express our deepest thanks to all the amazing and caring staff of Robin’s Grove neighbourhood at Barnswallow Place Community in Elmira Ontario and to the staff at Kelso Villa Retirement home in Owen Sound.
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