Olga McKellar

          After a very full and interesting life, with loving family at her side, Olga died in Woodstock, Ontario on January 12, 2026.  Born in February 1937 in pre-war England, Olga was the eldest child of Frank and Annie (Lawton) Kennerley who had met and married in Mottram-in-Longdendale, in the Greater Manchester area.  Olga was the eldest of three girls and remained close to her sisters Jean (Kulmala) and Sheila (McLeod) throughout her life.

          After spending her first 11 years in various locations in England - on the move due to wartime disruption - her family moved to Canada to seek a more peaceful home.  They settled in Eastwood, Ontario. Olga attended the local school, adjusted to rural life in Canada and became part of the Eastwood and Oxford County communities.  Olga excelled at academics at Woodstock Collegiate and continued her education at the University of Toronto.  She spent happy years there in residence at Victoria College and thrived in the atmosphere making many great lifelong friends amongst fellow students and faculty members.  After graduation she earned a scholarship to pursue a graduate degree at Carleton University in Ottawa.

          Olga met her husband, Peter McKellar, in Toronto, Ontario in 1958, when they were working at Fort York during the summer break from university.  They were soon engaged and married at Eastwood United Church in August 1960.  Their honeymoon took them to Europe -- the first of more than one hundred travel adventures across the world in their 54 years together.  Olga taught high school in Oxford County and then in Kingston Ontario as Peter attended Queen’s University to study theology.  His summer placements as a student took them to rural settings in northern Alberta where Olga enjoyed the people and fell in love with the landscape.  When Peter graduated in 1964, his first placement as an ordained minister in Spirit River, Alberta.  A son, Neil, was born in October of that year and 21 months later he was joined by a sister Shelley.  In 1967 the family returned to Courtland, Ontario to be closer to most of their extended family.  Olga was always involved with the church communities in which she lived and by the time the family moved again in 1973 she felt called to ministry herself.

          She started her career in ministry in 1974 and served in seven pastoral charges in Ontario and in Saskatchewan (1993 – 2003), before retiring to Woodstock, Ontario in 2005.  She remained involved in St David’s United Church in Woodstock until her death.  She became a Rotarian in Saskatchewan and then Woodstock for a total of 30 years, as well as serving on many Boards of Trustees and other volunteer positions in Oxford until poor health forced her to relax.

          In her spare time Olga loved her garden, she liked to be barefoot in the grass and soil.  She loved to watch bubbles drifting into the breeze.   She loved her family.  She loved big ideas.  She enjoyed conversation.  She loved a good book.  To the end she was always happy to visit and exchange ideas over a cup of tea or coffee or a tasty treat.

          Olga will be greatly missed.  She was mother to Neil (Elaine) and Shelley (John); sister to Jean Kulmala and Sheila (Grant) McLeod; sister-in-law to Mary (Shayne) and Kay; grandma and Mog to Ben (Michelle), Katie (David), Kennerley, Sage and Aranya; Gigi to Xavier, Elliot and Penelope.  She will also be missed by many nieces and nephews, cousins and other extended family and friends around the globe.

          A memorial event will be held in the future.  Wareing Cremation Services, 225 Norwich Ave., Woodstock, Ontario has been entrusted with Final Arrangements.  Your messages of remembrance and condolence may be shared here at wareingcremation.ca