It is with broken hearts that the family of Ivy Rose Elizabeth Cole Reinhardt announce her passing from Ewings Sarcoma on Sept. 26 2021 at the age of 13.

Ivy began her extraordinary life on February 29, 2008. Born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia she spent her early years on a farm near Lunenburg with horses, chickens, cats and her sister dog Holly. Ivy came into this world with her eyes open and from her first moment she experienced life deeply and fully. She saw the sacredness of everything and recognized the magic in all things holding space for every being on earth. From mornings at the Lunenburg farmers market to long days on the beach or exploring deep into the cool forest to notice shifting lights and baby deer and to speak to the crows and chipmunks, she was adored by all creatures and adored all creatures. There was something about Ivy Rose.

Shortly after her fourth birthday she was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma in her fibula bone. She faced the challenges of treatment with the same joyous heart as everything in her life. After 9 months of treatment and surgery she was declared in remission. Ivy loved school and dance and attended the South Shore Waldorf School where she formed lifelong bonds with both teachers and children. At the age of 6 she moved with her mother to Toronto where she continued her life's adventure enthusiastically, attending Waldorf Academy and pursuing her love of dance at the Pia Bouman School.

Despite her physical challenges Ivy strived for excellence in everything she did. Ivy loved her bike, horse backing riding lessons and swimming. She loved travel and food and new things, she built community and impacted lives everywhere she went from here to Hawaii, a place she felt a deep connection too. She danced beautifully in the Pia Bouman’s production of the Nutcracker and transcended the role of Persephone in her school play. She completed her level 4 RADD exams in ballet and won the wreath in the grade 5 Waldorf School Olympic Games in New York State. She was determined and dedicated, proud and resilient.

In 2017 scans showed a relapse in her lung. She faced treatment bravely and valiantly once again achieving full remission.

Ivy was most alive in nature and on a farm. Whether it was spending an entire tide splashing around with cousins or swinging on a swing with a chicken in her coat, or in a hayloft with new kittens or on the edge of a volcano in Hawaii, Ivy got it. The sacredness of every part of life did not escape her. This also extended to her life in the city. “Oh mama, I just love Toronto. You can do anything and there are pigeons.” Her connection to nature was not lost in the city where she spent hours in the ravines and communing with the red tailed hawk that would grace her beautiful garden.

From her first breath she sought to deepen her experience in life. She appreciated every hint of magic in the world, saw it and amplified it.
In November 2020 it became clear her disease was not going to relent. Ivy never once gave up and worked bravely to keep living. Becoming a teenager was a huge milestone and she worked so hard to experience all she could, shopping at the mall with friends, perfecting her winged eyeliner, and putting together the cutest outfits. She loved watching Schitt’s Creek and memorized all the best lines. The show inspired her in so many ways. Ivy had a wicked sense of humour and a wicked sense of style. She refferred to her wigs by name.

There wasn't a minute alive that Ivy wasn't creating. She had a beautiful singing voice, she was a talented artist from oil paintings of the night sky to manga comics, making jewellery for her friends, sewing doll clothes. She was a true artist.

Ivy's last year showed the depth of her old, old soul. Her ability to reconcile the course of her life and hold space for all, was awe inspiring. She loved her friends, family and her pets, Holly-dog, cats Lili’u and Freddie, and the rat babies Stella and Rosie, deeply.

It is difficult to distil Ivy’s essence in a few short paragraphs. We will never fully know
what her loss means to the world. Her legacy is to find the beauty in the tiniest moments, to love fully and deeply despite imperfections, that ones capacity is more important than their limitations and that everything feels better when you’re in the trees. Everyone who knew Ivy was challenged to become their best fullest most loving self and she wasn’t afraid to tell you if you were doing it wrong.

She wanted to be remembered by Magnolia trees blooming in the spring and asked that we plant them in her memory.

Ivy was predeceased by her grandfather David Cole and her GG, Joan Bromley, her paternal great grandparents, John and Doris Greer.
Ivy is survived by her mother Meghan Cole and her father Simon Reinhardt, Grandmothers, Ann Bromley and Peggy Greer, Grandfather Douglas Reinhardt (Barbara James), aunts, uncles, cousins and dear, dear friends.

Ivy's family is so grateful for the love and support over the nine year journey with this terrible disease. Doctors, Abba Gupta, Kevin Weingarten, the caring nurses and team at the hospital for Sick Kids, and the incredible doctors and nurses at the IWK in Halifax. The everlasting love and support from the South Shore Waldorf school, Waldorf academy, Pia Bouman School, Edgehill country school, and her home communities in Nova Scotia and Toronto.