With terrible sadness, the family of Katie (Katharine Ying Anne) Macdonald announces that she passed away suddenly at her home in Toronto at the tender age of 16.

Katie will be forever loved and missed by her adoring parents, Angela (Lam) and Alex, and her loving big brother, Charlie. From a very young age, Katie’s extended family benefitted from her dry humour, silliness, passion, creative mind and beautiful smile. Sharing the burden of sorrow are: her maternal grandparents, Ying and Tom; aunt Judy (John) and cousin Justin; uncle Bill (Lyne, deceased) and cousins Mathieu and Daniel; and uncle Peter; her paternal grandparents, Molly Anne (deceased) and William; aunt Susan (Nestor) and cousins Sophie and Devin; uncle David (Sarah) and cousins Lachlan, Annabelle, Rory and Georgiana; and uncle Dougal (Barbara) and cousin Katrina. Her cousin Alexandra pre-deceased her.

Katie was a special soul and bright light in her family, and brought them much joy in her all too short life. She was a ham, loved spending time with the family’s three cats, chatting with her friends (in person or online) and letting those whom she trusted clearly know what her well articulated and reasoned opinions were on a broad range of topics and issues. Her desire for social justice was great, though the inequities in this world increased the weight on her heart and mind.

To honour Katie’s aspirations, The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World has been established to focus on social justice issues, such as racial injustice and LGBTQ+ rights, and youth mental health. In lieu of flowers, donations will be graciously accepted. See below for more details.

The funeral service is limited to ten attendees and thus will be livestreamed beginning at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 26th, for family and friends unable to attend the service due to COVID-19 restrictions. The link will appear above the obituary shortly before it is scheduled to begin. The Order of Service for the funeral may be found by clicking the "Media" tab and selecting "Documents" in the drop-down menu.

Rest in peace, our dear Katie. You will forever be in our hearts.


The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World:

Donations may either be mailed directly to:

The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World at 42 Playter Blvd, Toronto, ON M4K-2W2 (cheque made out to The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World);

or made electronically through either of the following charity giving portals (these can be accessed by clicking the Donation tab in the menu above):

CanadaHelps.org at the following link: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-katie-macdonald-foundation-for-a-better-world/
CharitableImpact.com at the following link: https://m.charitableimpact.com/u1QE