Frances Bailie
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We regret to advise of the death of Frances Bailie, peacefully, on 29 January 2024. Mrs Bailie,
Was the daughter of the Late Colonel Coulson Norman Mitchell, VC, MC.Mrs. Bailie and her sister Marjorie Urquhart dedicated the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering building at Gagetown in their father’s name in April 1998. She supported the CME Museum in researching and teaching Lt.-Col. Mitchell’s story and was a source of entertaining and vivid tales of her father’s time in the Royal Canadian Engineers.
Frances was born in Crows Nest Pass AB but was brought up in Montreal QC from the age of two in the Town of Mont Royal. Here, many of her creative skills were formed - pottery, wax candles and her greatest skill in oil painting. After High School and one year at McGill University, she and her mother moved to British Columbia where her father was commanding Camp Chilliwack and the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering. She spent that first winter at the Chilliwack Business College which stood her in good stead for work at the Roval Victoria Hospital in Montreal on their return after the war. Later she worked at Mount Royal United Church and, upon moving to Toronto in 1980, at Bloor Street United Church.
Funeral arrangements are private. A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.