ELIZA COPELAND

ELIZA COPELAND
(nee Kinney)
April 11, 1922 – March 12, 2022
Eliza Copeland (nee Kinney) passed away on Saturday, March 12, 2022 exactly one month away from her 100th birthday. She will be dearly missed by daughters Mary Jane, Nancy, and Patricia; grandchildren Calla, Christina, Johnathan, Kathryn, Meghan, Sarah and Will; and great-grandchildren Ethan, Mason, and Weston, with two more great-grandchildren on the way. Predeceased by siblings Henrietta Wright and James Kinney. Eliza was born on April 11, 1922 in Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island,where she had many memories of camping with her friends and swimming at the merchant dock. She moved to Toronto as a young adult for schooling and often spoke of life during WWII. The young soldiers she grew up with in rural Manitoulin Island would look her up in the big city on their way overseas, and Grandma would inaugurate them to city life by taking them to dances at Casa Loma, a Toronto landmark her family has heard many a story about over the years. Eliza married the love of her life, David Copeland, in 1948. They purchased a brand new home in Don Mills where Eliza lived for almost the full remainder of her life, and it was a constant gathering place for her ever-growing family. Whether it was holiday dinners, helping with homework and after-school snacks, a visiting centre for family members travelling to or through town, or bird watching with a cup of tea. Eliza made her home warm and welcoming with fresh-baked treats, ice cream always in the freezer, and CBC’s Power and Politics at full volume. Eliza was always up on the news and had a witty, scathing opinion on current events to entertain her family with. Her retirement summers were spent in her home in Gore Bay, built by her father JW Kinney, taking pleasure in golfing, gardening, Tobacco Lake, and her friends and family. Her wisdom, love of conversation, value placed on family connections and appreciation for nature has been passed down to future generations through childhood camping trips, suffering piano practices, never missing a birthday card, sharing drinks on the front porch with friends and neighbours she’d known her entire life on Manitoulin Island, and taking the time to find the beauty in the natural world when “thousands wouldn’t”. Eliza was an active member of St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church for much of her life, and regularly volunteered in her community in her younger days. The family will not be holding a funeral service at this time. Stories and well wishes are appreciated and can be shared at ForEverMissed.com/eliza-copeland. If you wish to honour Eliza’s memory, donations can be sent to St Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Don Mills, or Doctors Without Borders. Her loved ones will cherish the 10 decades of memories, a century of life and 100 years loved.