Obituary of Maria (Mary) Sara Buhr (Nightingale)

March 16, 1935 to October 19, 2024

Mary Buhr died peacefully in her 89th year at St. Mary's Hospital, Kitchener, where she was receiving comfort care.  Survived by her beloved husband Donald Abram Nightingale and by his children, Sharon and Bruce. Lovingly remembered by her caring granddaughters, Kaitlyn Nightingale (Ben) and Emma Nightingale (Logan), and their mother Lindsay Drake Nightingale.

Also survived by her sisters Helen Gibbons and Greta Penner and by her brothers John, Tony, Martin (partner Nell Peters), Albert (Kathy) and by her cousin Jeannie (Herman) Rempel, who was raised by Mary's parents the late John and Sarah Buhr.  Predeceased by brothers Jake and Diedrich. Pre-deceased by sisters-in-law Dorothy (Jake), Frieda (John), Christine (Diedrich), Helen (Tony), Pauline (Martin) and by brothers-in-law Gordon Gibbons (Helen) and Jake Penner (Greta).

Mary was loved by many nieces and nephews who remember their Big City aunt with the red Firebird. Virtually all of them recall riding in that car, lodging overnight in her Toronto duplex and later on in her Kitchener-Waterloo homes. Standing out for them was Aunt Mary’s welcoming hospitality and her positive role modelling of a strong, resourceful, independent person, an example they seek to emulate. Her grandnieces and grandnephews also came to experience the embrace of her love for her family. Mary had long time enduring relationships with nephews Patrick Buhr (Sandra) and Gregory Penner (Ximena) and niece Karen Buhr (special friend Kyle) who reside in Ontario.

Mary began her career as a Lab and X-ray Technologist in Winnipeg. After earning her B.A in Psychology at the University of Waterloo she began teaching  at the  Michener Institute of Health Science  in Toronto as  a Medical Lab instructor. Here she developed a correspondence course that was used by students across Canada who were training as Lab Technicians. In the Big City she yielded to her innate entrepreneurial spirit by buying several rental properties and a duplex leading to a concurrent career as a landlady.

Mary was a member the Timothy Eaton United Church in Toronto and was involved in volunteer work most of her life. In Waterloo she joined a Probus club and was part of a Book club. Members of the latter became close friends and faithfully visited or called during the last months of her life, as did friends from Kingston to Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and beyond.

During her early retirement Mary met and married Don Nightingale, a handsome and charming widower who she adored.  She would proudly declare that their union of 29 years was an achievement greater than all the others. With her husband Don, Mary continued her love of travels around the world and to North American cities coast to coast.

As volunteers Mary and Don together contributed to the activities of the Research Institute for Aging (RIA). They were invited to give presentations at conferences about aging and served on RIA advisory committees. They met the public on the Green Elder Wisdom Benches placed by Schlegel Villages around the Waterloo Region.

Special thanks to the staff at The Village of University Gates Waterloo where Mary resided for the last three years so she could be near her husband who is in Long Term Care. Also special thanks to the staff at St. Mary's Hospital who provided attentive comfort care along with the palliative team from Ontario Health at Home.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St S., Waterloo, at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, November 18, 2024, with a time of visitation starting at 10:30 a.m.

A livestream of the service will be available on the funeral home website. A reception will follow in the Fireside Reception Room of the funeral home. Cremation and a private family burial will have taken place at Woodland Cemetery, Kitchener.

At Mary’s request, memorial donations may be made to the MennoHomes/Beyond Housing or Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, and may be arranged through the funeral home at 519-745-8445 or www.erbgood.com. Condolences and memories may be shared on Mary's tribute wall.