Obituary of Mary Delores Gatt

The family of Mary Gatt are sad to announce her passing on Wednesday August 14 at the age of 95.  Mary was predeceased by her husband Emmanual Gatt (2005).  She is survived by her seven children: Jane, Antonia, Noella, Victor (Shelley), Marie (Roger), Chris (Gail) and Rita (Mark) as well as thirteen grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. 

Mary was born in Valetta Malta on November 15, 1928.  Her father Vittorio was a chauffeur for a University Professor while her mother Antonia worked as a seamstress for a theatre company and they raised Mary and her 5 siblings (Vickie, Polly, Catherine George and Ninette).  During WWII,  as a teenager, she was injured and nearly killed when a bomb exploded nearby.  Times were very difficult as much of the population lived in harsh conditions in underground bomb shelters  with little to no food to live on.  The island of Malta and its citizens were given recognition for their valor when they were awarded the Victoria Cross by the King of England after the war.

Mary immigrated to Canada in November of 1951 with two kids in tow (Jane and Tonia) having been preceded by her husband Manny who had arrived a few months before that, they all came to Canada as British Subjects.  They became Canadian citizens in 1957 and eventually were also granted Maltese Citizenship  when it came into being in 1963.

While living in Montreal, where Manny worked as a ships draftsman for Canadian Vickers, three more kids arrived in fairly quick succession Noella in 1953, Victor in 1954  and Marie in 1956.

A job offer with the Department of National Defence meant an eventual move into a modest four bedroom home in the west end of Ottawa. The final two children were welcomed to the household, Chris in 1960 and Rita in 1964.  By then, Mary was a full-time homemaker in every sense of the word, getting up early every morning to make breakfast for the family, prepare lunches for the school aged kids, while looking after the infants and all their needs, cooking and cleaning and managing the household.   

When the nest eventually emptied,  Mary was able to enjoy trips to the cottage, and joining Manny on business trips mostly to the east coast (Halifax) where he  was now a procurement officer responsible for outfitting ships for the Department of Defence. 

In 1979 Mary was badly injured in a kitchen fire and spent several months in the hospital burn unit bravely recovering from her severe burns.   

After Manny retired in 1988, they became snowbirds, spending time at the cottage in the summer and in either Portugal or Florida for a few months in the winter.   

More tragedy occurred when Manny suffered a devastating stroke in 1997 that left him quite disabled and unable to communicate.  After being looked after by Mary, he eventually ended up at the Villa Marconi where Mary visited him daily and assisted with his care until his passing on March 28, 2005 at the age of 81. 

Mary lived for several years with her youngest daughter Rita and her family before deciding to move into a senior’s residence in 2018.

 In the last few months, her health started to deteriorate and after recovering from a severe bout of Gout she eventually succumbed to Congestive Heart Failure and  passed away peacefully around 1:00 AM on Wednesday August 14. 

Mary was a stoic and unassuming woman who was kind and considerate and respectful to everyone she met.  She also demonstrated a great deal of courage and fortitude with many of the challenges that she had to face in the very long life that she lived.  Despite those challenges and despite losing her lifelong partner some 19 years ago, she still loved life and found a way to carry on.   Now that she is gone the world seems like an emptier place to those who knew here but she won’t soon be forgotten by those that she has left behind.     

A Memorial Service will be held on Monday August 19 at 1:00 PM at the Pinecrest Remembrance Chapel, 2500 Baseline Road, in Ottawa. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.