Mary Laurie-Pile was a family doctor in Brantford, Ont., for over 35 years. Born in England in 1941, the daughter of a surgeon and a nurse, Mary and her younger brother Andrew grew up in wartime and the postwar decade of austerity, rationing and "waste not, want not."
In 1947, the family moved to Headington near Oxford when her father was appointed thoracic surgeon to the United Oxford Hospitals. She trained at the Middlesex Hospital, London, in the early 1960s where only 10 per cent of medical students were women. Six girls in a class of 60. Mary survived by expecting no favours or courtesies, simply equal treatment. After qualifying, Mary worked at the Middlesex Hospital and hospitals in London, Newcastle, Southampton and Leicester with a special interest in paediatrics.
At Charing Cross Hospital, she met Sam Gnanamuttu, a physiotherapist planning to emigrate to Canada. Mary emigrated to Canada in 1971 to join Sam and worked in Hamilton. She became a Canadian citizen, but never lost her distinctive English accent. Sam's children from his first marriage, John and Michele, joined them from Sri Lanka and the family moved to Brantford.
Family life was filled with gatherings of friends, camping all over Ontario, bi-yearly trips to England to visit Sam's and Mary's families, and sports activities, with Mary teaching John and Michele how to downhill ski, swim and play tennis. Mary and Sam had a deep affection for animals, which they instilled in their children, and they took in a steady stream of rescued dogs and cats.
Mary first joined a practice in West Brant, then set up a group family practice in Greenbrier where she spent her working career. Her patients came from all over the Brantford area, including from Six Nations of the Grand River. She cared for patients at the John Noble Home and Iroquois Lodge, Oshweken. She became the medical director of the Lansdowne Children's Centre, was on the board of the Ross MacDonald School for the Blind and also worked at the Brantford Birth Control Clinic, and the Sexual Assault Centre, where her patience helped survivors and medical expertise helped convict some perpetrators.
She was active in the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. She had hospital privileges, looking after her patients at the Brantford General Hospital. Mary's practical wisdom, fairness, integrity and straightforwardness with friends, patients and colleagues led to her being suggested as the president of the Brantford Medical Staff Association. Though shy and nervous about public speaking, when she realized she would be the first woman to be president, she accepted the challenge, a quiet pioneer of equality.
Although they separated in the 1980s and Sam died in 1995, Mary remained close to many of their Sri Lankan friends and could still make a delicious chicken curry. Mary led a very active life: playing tennis weekly into her 70s, including as a member of the Dufferin Tennis Club, cycling 20km twice per week with her biking group, daily summer swims and cross-country skiing when there was enough snow. She enjoyed the countryside around Brantford, walking weekly on the trails along the Grand River, always picking up any litter. She was a member of the University Women's Walking Group and campaigned to save the Hardy Road area and its Indigenous history. She joined The Grand River Grannies' Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign to help grannies throughout Africa in bringing up children orphaned by AIDs and visited Uganda taking suitcases full of practical help.
Back in 1963, then a 21-year-old medical student, Mary had met Brian Austin, a young British diplomat, on a skiing holiday. Six weeks later he was on a boat to Lagos, Nigeria, on his first three-year posting. With demanding and incompatible careers, they stayed on each other's Christmas card list. Brian's wife died in 2002 after he had retired to England. In the following year, Mary went to England for a family wedding. They met again and found their affection unchanged. They married in 2007 with families, homes and commitments on opposite sides of the ocean. The marriage lasted happily with visits, shared holidays and daily telephone calls when apart.
Mary's great happiness was becoming a loving grandma to Michele's children, Rachel and Nicholas. Most at ease with little people, she rejoiced in Brian's and her brother's grandchildren. She was a devoted mother and grandmother, and her sense of fun and kookiness was much loved by her children, nephews, grandchildren, and great-nieces and nephew.
In 2019, Mary fell and broke her hip getting off her bike while training for a charity cycle ride. She determinedly regained her mobility, walking with two canes though she eventually had to have a hip replacement. In the summer of 2021, after living in Brantford for 47 years, Mary moved to Toronto to live with Michele and her family, where she loved being able to walk to the shops and having a dog in the family again. Most of all, Mary loved living with Rachel and Nicholas. She earned the nickname 'sweet tooth grandma' after a missing candy incident.
In November 2022, John became critically ill in Sri Lanka. The severity of his illness had previously been unclear. Mary flew there and was able to be with him before he died on Nov. 20. In May 2023, Mary went to England to celebrate her 82nd birthday with Brian's family and to be together for their 16th wedding anniversary. After a happy and active visit, she returned to Canada and died unexpectedly and peacefully on June 6.
She leaves Brian; Michele (Mike); her brother Andrew and sister-in-law Jo; Brian's children Steph (Phil) and Alex (Jessica); and nephews Duncan, Douglas, Angus, Vashi, Shehin and Priyan, and all their families.
In her quiet, practical way, Mary made a major contribution to the community in the Brantford area. On her retirement, she felt honoured to receive an Honour Feather and a gift of Iroquois pottery from the community of the Six Nations of the Grand River. She will be greatly missed by those who knew her. Her funeral was private.