Obituary of Dr. Avril Maria MacDonald M.D.

Dr. Avril Maria MacDonald M.D, of Chatham, passed away peacefully at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance on January 4, 2016 at the age of 53. Daughter of Grignion Fonseca and the late Rui Fonseca (2010). Beloved wife of Robert MacDonald. Dear mother of Adriana MacDonald (Scott Donovan) and Kevin MacDonald, all of Chatham. Avril was the loving sister to Keith Fonseca of Toronto, Elaine Dias (Phil) of Markham and Nigel Fonseca (Melissa) of Markham. Predeceased by her sister Lynette Fonseca (1988) and sister-in-law’s Patricia MacDonald (2015) and Helen McNally (1986) (Leo). She will be fondly missed by her nieces and nephews Nicole Dias, Andrew Dias, Cassondra Fonseca, Graham Fonseca, Geoff Lumby (the late Cathie, 2015), Amy McNally and Monica McNally-Scott (Jesse Gould). Avril was born in Nairobi, Kenya in the shadow of the Ngong Hills, something that gave her a lifelong passion for mountains and forests. She emigrated to Canada in the late 1960’s with her family of seven and settled in Toronto where the children received most of their education. She earned her M.D. at U of T in 1985 but remained a cheerleader for Western forever. Avril married her high school sweetheart, Rob, in 1985. They bought and moved into their first home in Mississauga in 1986 where she started her practice. They moved to Chatham in 1989 in furtherance of their careers and to take up small town life. They designed, built & renovated (frequently) their dream home in 1989 into which came Adriana in 1991 and Kevin in 1994. At the same time Avril was building her family practice and starting her 25 year relationship with CKHA, the local medical community, and her adored patients. She passed away completely dedicated to her family & patients. She remained passionate about her pets and travel; some favorite places being Tofino, the French country-side, Spain and Disney World. Her passions extended to her family first and always and she wanted nothing more than their happiness. She will remain in all of our hearts forever and her presence will be missed always. Friends will be received at the McKinlay Funeral Home, 459 St. Clair St., Chatham on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. & 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Vigil Prayers will take place at 6:45 p.m. Avril’s family will gather at St. Ursula’s Catholic Church on Thursday, January 7, 2015 at 11 a.m for eulogies. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. with Fr. Matt Kurcharski celebrant. A Private Family Interment to be taken place in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Richmond Hill. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Avril to Ovarian Cancer Research or Endometrial Cancer Research would be appreciated. Online condolences may be left at www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com. <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/150900769" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/150900769">Dr. Avril Maria MacDonald</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user27484248">McKinlay Funeral Homes Ltd.</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>