Flora Eaton
November 26, 1879 – July 9, 1970
Lady Eaton — the Omemee nurse who married into Canada's retail royal family and reigned as its matriarch for half a century.
The Story
She was born Sarah Evelyn Florence McCrea on November 26, 1879, in Omemee, Ontario, the youngest of eight children of Irish immigrants. Trained as a nurse, she was working at Rotherham House, a private Toronto hospital, when one of her patients turned out to be John Craig Eaton — a son of the Eaton's founder. They married in Omemee on May 8, 1901.
As Lady Eaton — her husband was knighted in 1915 — she presided over Ardwold, the family's palatial house on Spadina Road, and summers at Kawandag on Lake Rosseau. Widowed in 1922, she remained the Eaton family's matriarch for 48 years and one of Canada's best-known philanthropists; Trent University's Lady Eaton College bears her name. Mother of six, including John David Eaton, she died on July 9, 1970, aged 90, and rests at Mount Pleasant with the family she married into and then led.
As Lady Eaton — her husband was knighted in 1915 — she presided over Ardwold, the family's palatial house on Spadina Road, and summers at Kawandag on Lake Rosseau. Widowed in 1922, she remained the Eaton family's matriarch for 48 years and one of Canada's best-known philanthropists; Trent University's Lady Eaton College bears her name. Mother of six, including John David Eaton, she died on July 9, 1970, aged 90, and rests at Mount Pleasant with the family she married into and then led.
- Born
- Omemee, Ontario
- Buried
- Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto