Obituary for Audrey Louise Belshaw (Irvine)
In Loving Memory of Audrey Louise Belshaw (Irvine, Chambers)
May 24, 1932 - August 31, 2022
Audrey Louise Belshaw passed away peacefully at her home in the The Waterford Retirement Residence, in Barrie, on August 31, 2022. Audrey was the devoted wife of Gordon Belshaw and loving mother of Bob Chambers (Heather), Marie Hodgson (Chris) and David Chambers (Ruth-Anne). She delighted in her grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved nothing more than to cuddle a ‘wee one’ on her lap or cheer young ones on at a birthday, a game or special event.
Audrey was born in Toronto, but moved many times during her early years, living in Port Colborne, Montreal and Niagara Falls. She is predeceased by her parents Vera and Bill Irvine and brother Bill Irvine. She is survived by and deeply missed, by her husband Gordon and her sister Donna Healey. She is always fondly remembered by her many nieces and nephews.
Audrey came to the Haliburton Highlands as a teenager, helping her parents with their restaurant, The Red Barn, in Carnarvon. At nineteen, she married her first husband Frank Chambers and settled into life in the Highlands along the shore of Twelve Mile Lake, raising her children and working part time for a local lawyer. Although she originally left school in Niagara Falls at sixteen, Audrey came to value learning and education highly. She returned to school as a young mother, to complete her Honours High School Diploma at Haliburton High, a BA through correspondence and summer courses at Wilfrid Laurier University, Teacher Certification at Niagara Teachers College and finally, a Masters of Library Science from Western University. Audrey shared her love of learning with her many students and colleagues as a teacher at Archie Stouffer School in Minden, Stuart Baker and JD Hodgson in Haliburton and as Principal in Gooderham.
Audrey enjoyed travelling far and wide, often combining her love of a new adventure and lifelong learning by taking further summer courses in Scotland, Europe and the Middle East. She loved to share stories of her travels with her students and encouraged them to make the most of educational opportunities and hard work to realize their own dreams. Audrey was always an advocate for women in the workplace and throughout her teaching career she served as Federation Rep at both county and provincial levels seeking equality of opportunity and pay for women teachers and an education system that served all children fairly. She retired from her teaching career in 1995 and moved to Markham to be closer to her family living in the GTA area and to make it easier to visit her son David’s family in BC. It was on one of her travel adventures in 2005 to Brittany, France that Audrey met a true Scottish-Canadian gentleman, Gordon Belshaw and they were soon married and took up residence in Toronto, before moving to Barrie in 2013. Audrey and Gordon shared a love of their Scottish heritage, music and travel. They travelled with their church choir, performing throughout Canada and Europe and bought a home in Tillicoultry Scotland (near where her father was born) where they summered for many years. Audrey was a bright, determined ‘free spirit’ who looked for the good in people and treated everyone with respect and kindness. She lived her life fully and enriched the lives of those who knew her, teaching us that believing in yourself, working hard and treating others with kindness would take you far in this life. She enjoyed nothing more than to share a story, a song and of course laughter, wherever she was. That bright, kind spirit carried her through her struggles with dementia and cancer these last years with grace and gratitude and endeared her to her fellow residents and caregivers. We wish to express our deep appreciation to her dedicated caregiver, Helen Tate and the very caring staff at The Waterford, for their compassion and support throughout Audrey’s illnesses.
As per Audrey’s wishes she has been cremated and will be interred at Twelve Mile Lake Cemetery. A celebration of Audrey’s life will follow at a later date. Audrey may be kindly remembered through donations to the Canadian Cancer Society (https://cancer.ca/en/) or the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada (https://alzheimer.ca/en) or through Gordon A. Monk Funeral Home Ltd., P.O. Box 427, Minden, Ontario K0M 2K0.
May 24, 1932 - August 31, 2022
Audrey Louise Belshaw passed away peacefully at her home in the The Waterford Retirement Residence, in Barrie, on August 31, 2022. Audrey was the devoted wife of Gordon Belshaw and loving mother of Bob Chambers (Heather), Marie Hodgson (Chris) and David Chambers (Ruth-Anne). She delighted in her grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved nothing more than to cuddle a ‘wee one’ on her lap or cheer young ones on at a birthday, a game or special event.
Audrey was born in Toronto, but moved many times during her early years, living in Port Colborne, Montreal and Niagara Falls. She is predeceased by her parents Vera and Bill Irvine and brother Bill Irvine. She is survived by and deeply missed, by her husband Gordon and her sister Donna Healey. She is always fondly remembered by her many nieces and nephews.
Audrey came to the Haliburton Highlands as a teenager, helping her parents with their restaurant, The Red Barn, in Carnarvon. At nineteen, she married her first husband Frank Chambers and settled into life in the Highlands along the shore of Twelve Mile Lake, raising her children and working part time for a local lawyer. Although she originally left school in Niagara Falls at sixteen, Audrey came to value learning and education highly. She returned to school as a young mother, to complete her Honours High School Diploma at Haliburton High, a BA through correspondence and summer courses at Wilfrid Laurier University, Teacher Certification at Niagara Teachers College and finally, a Masters of Library Science from Western University. Audrey shared her love of learning with her many students and colleagues as a teacher at Archie Stouffer School in Minden, Stuart Baker and JD Hodgson in Haliburton and as Principal in Gooderham.
Audrey enjoyed travelling far and wide, often combining her love of a new adventure and lifelong learning by taking further summer courses in Scotland, Europe and the Middle East. She loved to share stories of her travels with her students and encouraged them to make the most of educational opportunities and hard work to realize their own dreams. Audrey was always an advocate for women in the workplace and throughout her teaching career she served as Federation Rep at both county and provincial levels seeking equality of opportunity and pay for women teachers and an education system that served all children fairly. She retired from her teaching career in 1995 and moved to Markham to be closer to her family living in the GTA area and to make it easier to visit her son David’s family in BC. It was on one of her travel adventures in 2005 to Brittany, France that Audrey met a true Scottish-Canadian gentleman, Gordon Belshaw and they were soon married and took up residence in Toronto, before moving to Barrie in 2013. Audrey and Gordon shared a love of their Scottish heritage, music and travel. They travelled with their church choir, performing throughout Canada and Europe and bought a home in Tillicoultry Scotland (near where her father was born) where they summered for many years. Audrey was a bright, determined ‘free spirit’ who looked for the good in people and treated everyone with respect and kindness. She lived her life fully and enriched the lives of those who knew her, teaching us that believing in yourself, working hard and treating others with kindness would take you far in this life. She enjoyed nothing more than to share a story, a song and of course laughter, wherever she was. That bright, kind spirit carried her through her struggles with dementia and cancer these last years with grace and gratitude and endeared her to her fellow residents and caregivers. We wish to express our deep appreciation to her dedicated caregiver, Helen Tate and the very caring staff at The Waterford, for their compassion and support throughout Audrey’s illnesses.
As per Audrey’s wishes she has been cremated and will be interred at Twelve Mile Lake Cemetery. A celebration of Audrey’s life will follow at a later date. Audrey may be kindly remembered through donations to the Canadian Cancer Society (https://cancer.ca/en/) or the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada (https://alzheimer.ca/en) or through Gordon A. Monk Funeral Home Ltd., P.O. Box 427, Minden, Ontario K0M 2K0.