Obituary of Celine Kingston

KINGSTON, Mary Celine

Mary Celine Kingston passed away peacefully on November 22, 2020 in Burlington, Ontario after a lengthy battle with PSP. Cherished wife of Rob Duncan and beloved mother of Kristina and Katherine (Sarah). Daughter of the late Harry T. Kingston and survived by her mother Bridget Kingston. Sister of Scott Kingston (Julie), Heidi Montgomery (George), and brother-in-law Dave Duncan (Sue). She will be missed by her nieces and nephews Brianne, Mathieu, Erin, Elle, Lauren, Brett, and Spencer. She is also survived by her many friends and relatives in Canada, the United States, Ireland, and the UK.

Celine was born and raised in Ottawa and graduated from Université d'Ottawa. She dedicated her professional life to education, first as a teacher at École Saint-Philippe, then as founding principal of École Élémentaire Renaissance, and finally as principal of École Secondaire Georges-P.-Vanier. She had a profound impact on her colleagues and students. Tous ceux qui ont eu la chance de connaître Céline se souviendront de son sourire chaleureux, de son professionnalisme exemplaire, et de sa sincérité profonde. Celine was highly intelligent with an infallible memory.  At most one week into each academic year, she would have the first and last names of every student in the school memorized. Her memory also helped her learn several languages.

Celine enjoyed spending summers at the cottage on Lac St-Pierre and countless vacations with her family, including trips to Broadway in New York and movie premieres at TIFF. Her thirst for knowledge led her to read hundreds of books and explore museums at every opportunity. She travelled extensively and had a deep respect and understanding of cultural differences. She was also a prolific practical joker whose pranks were legendary.

We would like to sincerely thank the dedicated members of Celine’s care team - Dr. Numair, Dr. Park and his palliative care team at Joseph Brant Hospital, and our excellent highly qualified home care group of Jodie, Patty, Almaz, Jenn and Gabe - whose compassionate care made a major impact on Celine and her family in navigating PSP. She was a beautiful person inside and out and did not deserve the hand she was dealt but in true Celine fashion, she played it with dignity and grace.

Donations can be made to Cure PSP or Carpenter Hospice in Celine's memory. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we will organize a celebration of life at a later date. At this time our family will be preparing a book of memories and condolence messages, and submissions are welcome.