Violet Irene Bradshaw-Poole
(nee MacDonald)
March 26, 1928 - May 5, 2019

violinist - nature and animal lover - dedicated mother and kindergarten teacher

“If music be the food of love … play on!” Shakespeare

Irene died peacefully in the love and care of family and her dedicated caregivers at Belmont House, Toronto, on Sunday May 5th 2019 in her 91st year. She will be lovingly remembered by her children Carol Essex, John Bradshaw (Anne Didier),
Dave Bradshaw (Yuko), Ben Bradshaw (Christine) and their son Oscar, Doug Poole, and her grand children Jennifer, Takuro and Cindy Bradshaw, Katie Gibson (Jon Robinson), baby great grand daughter Avery Robinson, Jeanette Floyd-Lombard (Josh), Brier, Presley, Bailey, Maya and Emery, and the extended MacDonald and Bradshaw family and her many friends.

Irene was born in Stratford, Ontario on March 26, 1928. She grew up in a musical family and played the violin from childhood and then throughout her life. She was happily playing in string quartets well into her eighties. As a child the family ventured on dirt and gravel roads to Aylen Lake in the wild Algonquin Highlands from Stratford every summer. A much longer time trek then than it would be now. The MacDonalds’ love of animals and nature was instilled in Irene from those times, although she wasn’t thrilled with the long car trip and the very few pit stops!

Irene married the talented conductor, organist and choral master Lloyd Bradshaw (1929 - 1994) (see Canadian Encyclopedia) in Stratford in 1951. They soon moved to Toronto where Lloyd’s musical career blossomed while Irene made a career as a kindergarten teacher for the then Toronto Board of Education teaching at several schools and finally at Dewson Street Public School. In her retirement and her second marriage to the talented concert pianist, composer and conductor, Clifford Poole (1916 - 2003) (see Canadian Encyclopedia), Irene and Cliff continued making music in Cliff’s orchestra, the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra, and sailing in the summers from the Toronto Island on Cliff’s sailboat “Wavy”.

A memorial service and reception will be held on Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 at
1 pm at the Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre (375 Mount Pleasant Road, East Gate
Entrance.)
In lieu of flowers please make donations to World Wildlife Fund Canada to help protect our beautiful Canadian Wilderness and the many native species at risk.
However if you prefer to give flowers, please choose locally grown varieties for a lower environmental footprint.

For online donations and condolences please visit www.etouch.ca

flowers: wildnorthflowers.com free delivery in Toronto