Mrs. Maryellen Fleming passed away at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on Monday, April 5, 2022. Born in Kenora, Ontario on March 30, 1944, Maryellen spent her elementary and high school years in Terrace Bay, Ontario. She attended Lakehead Teachers’ College and began her teaching career in 1963 at Vickers Heights School. For the next 33 years, she taught at various schools in Thunder Bay retiring in 1996. She loved her chosen profession so much that she often said she couldn’t believe they paid her to go to work.
Her first husband, Ken Lammi, predeceased her in 1987, and in 1994 she married her soul mate Bob Fleming. Following retirement, the two of them enjoyed travelling to France, Scotland, England, and Hawaii, and spent time at resorts in Veradero, Cuba, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Riviera Maya, Mexico. They took several cruises to the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, the Baltic Sea and around the Hawaiian Islands.
Maryellen’s joy was music. She loved singing in the Symphony Chorus, the Community Choir, and in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church choir. She was very active in her church as an elder on session for over 20 years, and also served on various congregational committees.
Her other joy was dogs. She was proud to have given good homes to eleven dogs during her lifetime, (often two at a time), and it broke her heart to have to say goodbye to every one of them- one at a time- over the years.
Beside her first husband, Maryellen was predeceased by her parents, Inez and Art Reynolds. Left to mourn her passing are her beloved husband Bob, her brother Laurn Reynolds and his wife Susan, and Bob’s sons Scott (Sherry) and Murray (Irena) Fleming and their children Hanna, Liam and Tessa, to whom she was Nana (honorary grandmother- a title she cherished!). Several cousins, nieces and nephews also survive.
If friends so desire, donations may be made to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church or the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society. As she wished, cremation has taken place and no formal celebration will be held.
