August 30, 1936 – May 1, 2020
Sally Mae McArthur (nee Harter), beloved wife of Peter McArthur, passed away peacefully at the age of 83. Born in Ilion, New York to parents Chas and Dorothy Harter, she is survived by her four children and ten grandchildren, son Danny and wife Kandace and children Madison and Chas, daughter Susan and children Jamie and Jack, son David and wife Nichole and children Connor, Andrew and Peter and daughter Lynne and husband Mike and children Fergus, Aidan and Lochlann. She is also survived by her sister Nancy Bowman (d. Jim) and sister-in-law Mildred (d. Don) and many nieces and nephews, as well as very close neighbours, Ted and Debbie Seitz, who are considered as family.
Sally attended Ilion High School where she excelled at many things academic, athletic and social. She was an honours student at Albany State Teachers College where she met her knight in shining armour, and Canadian hockey player, Peter. It was love at first sight, but it took Dad a few tries to eventually seal the deal. They were married in Ilion in 1959 and enjoyed a 60-year partnership bonded together by a love and friendship as strong as any that exists.
They set up home in Hudson Quebec in 1963 where they both played active roles in the community. Sally was involved in everything and her motto was “you can do anything you put your heart into”. She was a past President of; the Ladies Committee at the Yacht Club, the Ladies Golf and Ladies Curling at Whitlock, and the American Women’s Club of Montreal. She was also very active and served on the board of the local tennis club. She was very involved in the Hudson figure skating club (and was known to even sew together the odd skating outfit even though she did not like to sew!!!). She was a teacher and loved the idea of learning. Affectionately known by her students as “the General”, she was a force to be reckoned with and when she was called on as a substitute teacher you didn’t dare step out of line… Someone recently wrote to us saying, “She was such an important person in Hudson. I will always think of her when we talk about the mothers that organized stuff for all of us kids in the 70’s and 80’s in Hudson. I’m sure that you have heard this many times before, but we were so lucky growing up here because of people like your mother.”
Higgins Bay on Piseco Lake in the Adirondacks was a special place for Sally from her early childhood days and through most of her adult years when the kids were still at home. Our family, her parents and her sister’s family would converge, for three weeks every August, in Piseco in standing-room-only quarters, but the fun times spent there will be remembered and treasured always.
Although born in the United States, Sally was a proud Canadian, and became a Canadian citizen in her 60th year. She would often tell her kids how lucky they were to be born in such an amazing country and that they should never ever take that for granted. Sally loved people and especially kids and was able to connect with people due to her genuine and honest approach to life. For Sally the glass was always half full and ready to be topped up. Her greatest love of all was for her husband Peter of 60 years. Her love of dancing was a close second. She will be sadly missed by many but would want us to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and carry on.
Faith was important to Sally. She was a regular attendee at St-Thomas mass, often accompanied by the non-Catholics in the family. Father Roland Demers, who was an inspiration for her, led his parish with an open heart. She often said if the Bishop ever decided to move Father to another parish there would be a revolt, and she would lead the charge.
Sally spent many hours volunteering at the local NOVA so in lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the local NOVA chapter in Hudson.
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