Obituary for Daphne Evelyn Elderkin Alley (Young)
Daphne Evelyn Elderkin Alley (Young)
November 27, 1929 – August 31, 2022
Daphne was a renaissance woman. She believed that women could do anything they set their minds to and she set out to prove that. She worked as a dietician, real estate agent, ski instructor, executive director and management consultant, and she was an electrician, plumber, stone pointer and artist in her spare time. Her curious mind led her to plunge into an MBA – after raising a family and supporting her husband through his own MBA. She inspired curiosity and life-long learning in her children. However, Daphne’s favourite roles were as a doting mother-grandmother-matriarch and hostess extraordinaire. Her charm and warmth welcomed any and all to her home or family cottage on Muldrew Lake. She loved nothing better than to give a sumptuous meal and a bed to extended family, friends, any friend of her family or anyone we knew who could not be home for the holidays. Her philosophy and message to the world was to be an exemplar of love.
Daphne was born to Dr. Hugh Morris Young and Kathleen Allison Young (Elderkin) in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She attended University College in Toronto. In 1955, Daphne married the love of her life, Peter Herbert Ruttan (1930 – 2006) and started a family: Hugh Robert (Diana Sleigh – Ted and Rebecca); John (Helen Powers – Jessie and Will); Tom (1959 – 2004); Edward (Ann Wilkinson – Evelyn and Larissa) and, finally a girl: Katherine (Steve Adkisson – Zoë). Family was everything to Daphne. She kept tight bonds with her siblings Dr. Hugh (Wilma), Muriel aka Muffie (Murray Stewart) and Carol (Walter Fell) – outlasted only by Muffie. She was a beloved sister-in-law to Peter’s siblings: Joan, Aileen and Francis and opened her arms and her home to her many nieces and nephews and their families.
The family took up skiing in 1964, and it became a family passion. Daphne was known as one of the smoothest skiers on the hill. Caledon Ski Club was like a second home and then their home after the Toronto house became an empty nest. After Peter’s death Daphne stayed in the Caledon house through ice storms and blackouts, skiing until she was 85, and only left when, at 88, she could no longer run the snow-blower to clear her own walkways. She then enjoyed the company of new friends at Montgomery Village, a haven through the COVID years.
There will be a Celebration of Life at the Granite Club on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 11:00 (please RSVP to daphne.alley2022@gmail.com).
In lieu of flowers, Daphne would have appreciated donations to her favourite charities: The Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Bruce Trail Conservancy or your local food bank.
We are forever grateful to the kind staff at Montgomery Village, East Wellington Family Health Team, Home Instead, the LHIN, and Headwaters Hospital for making Daphne’s final years, months and days all that she hoped for.
A tree will be planted in memory of Daphne in the Dods & McNair Memorial Forest at the Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. 20th Annual Dedication Service will be held on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.dodsandmcnair.com
November 27, 1929 – August 31, 2022
Daphne was a renaissance woman. She believed that women could do anything they set their minds to and she set out to prove that. She worked as a dietician, real estate agent, ski instructor, executive director and management consultant, and she was an electrician, plumber, stone pointer and artist in her spare time. Her curious mind led her to plunge into an MBA – after raising a family and supporting her husband through his own MBA. She inspired curiosity and life-long learning in her children. However, Daphne’s favourite roles were as a doting mother-grandmother-matriarch and hostess extraordinaire. Her charm and warmth welcomed any and all to her home or family cottage on Muldrew Lake. She loved nothing better than to give a sumptuous meal and a bed to extended family, friends, any friend of her family or anyone we knew who could not be home for the holidays. Her philosophy and message to the world was to be an exemplar of love.
Daphne was born to Dr. Hugh Morris Young and Kathleen Allison Young (Elderkin) in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She attended University College in Toronto. In 1955, Daphne married the love of her life, Peter Herbert Ruttan (1930 – 2006) and started a family: Hugh Robert (Diana Sleigh – Ted and Rebecca); John (Helen Powers – Jessie and Will); Tom (1959 – 2004); Edward (Ann Wilkinson – Evelyn and Larissa) and, finally a girl: Katherine (Steve Adkisson – Zoë). Family was everything to Daphne. She kept tight bonds with her siblings Dr. Hugh (Wilma), Muriel aka Muffie (Murray Stewart) and Carol (Walter Fell) – outlasted only by Muffie. She was a beloved sister-in-law to Peter’s siblings: Joan, Aileen and Francis and opened her arms and her home to her many nieces and nephews and their families.
The family took up skiing in 1964, and it became a family passion. Daphne was known as one of the smoothest skiers on the hill. Caledon Ski Club was like a second home and then their home after the Toronto house became an empty nest. After Peter’s death Daphne stayed in the Caledon house through ice storms and blackouts, skiing until she was 85, and only left when, at 88, she could no longer run the snow-blower to clear her own walkways. She then enjoyed the company of new friends at Montgomery Village, a haven through the COVID years.
There will be a Celebration of Life at the Granite Club on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 11:00 (please RSVP to daphne.alley2022@gmail.com).
In lieu of flowers, Daphne would have appreciated donations to her favourite charities: The Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Bruce Trail Conservancy or your local food bank.
We are forever grateful to the kind staff at Montgomery Village, East Wellington Family Health Team, Home Instead, the LHIN, and Headwaters Hospital for making Daphne’s final years, months and days all that she hoped for.
A tree will be planted in memory of Daphne in the Dods & McNair Memorial Forest at the Island Lake Conservation Area, Orangeville. 20th Annual Dedication Service will be held on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.dodsandmcnair.com