MacKinnon, Shirley Anne Wagg

July 8, 1938 - August 9, 2026

Shirley MacKinnon died at Eastholme Home for the Aged in Powassan, Ontario, on Sunday, August 9, 2026. Mom had just recently celebrated her 88th birthday. 

Shirley Anne Wagg was born in Mindemoya, Ontario, on the Manitoulin Island, the second child of Harvey and Leila (Brown) Wagg. Shirley spent many of her formative years in the company of her sister Connie, aunts Alberta (Bert), Colleen and Francis, and her little brother David, born when she was 7 years old. 

The family lived in several northeastern Ontario towns. When Shirley a was young child, the Waggs moved to Willisville, a small company town located precariously atop the La Cloche Mountains. Her father Harvey worked at the Lawson Quarry for INCO during the war. It was there that Shirley started school. 

After returning to the Manitoulin for a couple of years, the Waggs moved north to Kirkland Lake. Prior to leaving the Island, Shirley was gifted with a beautiful wardrobe of “hand me down” clothes, which boosted her confidence when she arrived. Her new Kirkland Lake schoolmates went out of their way to include Shirley, undeterred by her shy bookish ways.

In 1953 the family relocated to North Bay, where Shirley attended North Bay Collegiate and Vocational School for Grades 11 and 12. Shirley deeply missed her Kirkland Lake life and friends and did not initially take kindly to North Bay. As the decades progressed, she grew to appreciate the city that became her home. 

After high school, Shirley attended nurses' training at St Joseph’s in Guelph. Her Aunt Alberta was a year ahead and encouraged Shirley in her pursuit of nursing. Later, Bert and Shirley often attended school reunions and continued to have many wonderful memories of their nurse's training days for decades. 

Shirley returned to North Bay to work for Dr. Bill Keech as his office nurse. Her plan to join a couple of classmates in the adventure of setting out for British Columbia (which desperately needed nurses) was derailed when she met her future husband, Wayne MacKinnon, on a Hallowe'en blind date in October 1959. 

Shirley and Wayne married in North Bay on April 14, 1960. Three lovely girls followed in quick succession — Karen, Laura and Deanna. Roderick Duncan Lewis, the only boy, was born later in 1970. In the ensuing years, Mom was kept very busy with her young family, husband and community involvement. She continued to work part time, covering vacations at doctor’s offices around North Bay. She also dipped into selling Sarah Coventry jewelry and teaching classes for the Diet Workshop, where she met her best friend, Chris MacMillan. 

Mom was very involved in volunteering. She sang in the North Bay Choral Society, volunteered for TeleCare, taught Sunday school, acted as treasurer and occasional pianist for her church congregation, and as camp nurse at many church youth camps and family Reunion camps. Mom loved to be active. She could be found cycling, cross-country skiing, gardening, taking her kids to the beach, and in later years, paddling with the Warriors dragon boat team. For many years, Mom and Chris met at 6:30 am for long walks followed by coffee and chatting. As well, Mom was environmentally conscious long before it was fashionable. She made her own bread, granola, crab-apple jelly and yogurt. She used reusable bags for groceries, saved used wrapping paper and boxes, and was famous for always hanging her laundry out to line dry in the sun. Mom also remained very connected to both her and Wayne’s large extended families. Mom’s annual Christmas cards, filled with news of our family, are still cherished by many nieces, nephews and cousins to this day. 

Mom was the organizer when it came to family trips to Southern Ontario, the Ottawa Valley, Manitoulin Island, Florida and the Maritimes. Later, she enjoyed several visits to Vancouver to see Dad, a bucket list trip to Europe with Connie, David and Suzanne and a pilgrimage to the UK with Laura and Deanna. Here, Shirley visited the locations of some of her favourite UK television shows; Goathland (Heartbeat), Plockton (Hamish McBeth), and Manchester (Coronation Street).

In her later years, though living with Parkinson’s at Eastholme in Powassan, Mom continued to be active. For quite some time, Mom was still able to get into North Bay for visits in her sister’s kitchen and her best friend’s garden, and the all-important hair salon! Mom attended many family and holiday celebrations in the family home she’d lived in since 1965, and at Eastholme enjoyed many lively visits and phone calls and Christmas card sessions.

Shirley Wagg MacKinnon was predeceased by her parents Harvey and Leila Wagg, her sister Connie (Wagg) Allison, her husband Robert Wayne MacKinnon (March 1, 2026), her son-in-law Steven Taylor, her beloved Aunt Colleen (Brown) Manning, and many other cherished aunts, uncles, cousins, and sisters- and brothers-in-law. 

Mom will be dearly missed by her brother, David Wagg and her sister-in-law Suzanne; her Aunt Bert (Brown) Richardson; her children: Karen Taylor (Steven, deceased), Laura MacKinnon (Lawrence Cabana), Deanna MacKinnon, and Rod MacKinnon (Katherine Beckett); her grandchildren: Jana (Wes) Kroesbergen, Shannon (Dan) Kidd, Rae (Autumn) Wyler, Samuel (Kailey) Taylor, Abi and Serena Taylor; Alex (Ashley) Morrison and Charlie MacKinnon; Kraig and Ana Butler, Logan (Christine) Butler, Andrea Frandsen and Cassandra (James Shave) Frandsen; and her 13 great-grandchildren. Shirley will also be missed by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and their families.

We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to the incredibly amazing staff at Eastholme. They took such good care of Mom during the eight years she lived there. The staff were especially kind and caring of Mom and of us as we spent time together during her last few days of life. Mom was always treated with dignity and respect, and for that we are grateful.

Thank you to Jody, Ian, Kathryn and the staff of Martyn Funeral Home. Their compassionate care is greatly appreciated. 

Celebration of Life: Saturday, October 3rd at 2:30pm at

Martyn Funeral Home (464 Wyld Street, North Bay, Ontario)

Donations to World Accord or Friends of Canadian Media would be welcome.

Online condolences may be left at www.martynfh.com. Shirley's celebration will be live streamed at: https://event.forgetmenotceremonies.com/ceremony?c=17b7a14f-d50e-48fa-8196-01ed5dff7c58