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Late historian remembered for her love of genealogy Daigle, Matw For decades, Ruby Cusack's passion for history and genealogy extended not just to her professional life, but also to her family. Her daughter Carolyn Hawthorne remembers going on family road trips where her mother always made them pull up to every cemetery she saw to walk through and read all the tombstones. It became a running family joke. "It was always a joke because I always said to my father when we were passing a cemetery... I'd say, 'Step on the gas Dad, Mom would want to stop,'" said Hawthorne. "Mom had a love and a passion of books in genealogy. She spent hours happily researching family histories." A well-known retired school teacher and historian, Cusack died on Feb. 1 shortly after being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 84. She's survived by her husband of 61 years, Harold Percy Cusack, her daughters Carolyn Hawthorne and Nancy Cusack, and her six grandchildren. Family was of the utmost importance to Cusack, said Hawthorne, who described her mother as caring and willing to help anyone in need. "She had a strong love for her family. Her family was of the utmost importance to her," Hawthorne said. "She is remembered as a lifelong educator and she loved every minute of her teaching career. She was always there to listen and help people. "She loved to talk." Starting out in a one-room schoolhouse in Titusville, Cusack spent the next 35 years as an educator, teaching at Prince Charles School and retiring at Bayview School. Hawthorne said her mother was considered a favourite teacher amongst her students over the years. Long after her students grew up, Cusack could still remember them, even naming off the names of their siblings. Hawthorne said her mother, who had a superb memory, recently ran into one of her former students who hugged her and thanked her. "No matter where I went with mom, she would always run into a past student ... they would always talk about what a great teacher she was and what a difference that she made in their lives," Hawthorne said. Along with her extensive teaching career, Cusack was also member of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society and had her own website full of genealogical posts. For more than 20 years, Cusack had her own column in the Telegraph-Journal. She'd put her genealogical skills to the test, using sources to assist in researching people's ancestors around the province. Hawthorne said people from far and wide would contact her mother for her research skills. One major project she contributed to was the Marco Polo Project back in the 1980s to rebuild the Marco Polo, a ship that launched in 1851 in Saint John. Long-time N.B. Genealogical Society member Joan Pearce said Cusack's role was part of the historical research end of the project including finding the family history of the shipbuilders of the Marco Polo. "From a genealogical point of view, she was a true expert ... she brought all kinds of books, her book collection of New Brunswick, history in New Brunswick, genealogical information, family trees and local histories," said Pearce. "I don't think that any library, anywhere, had such a good collection of books that would give information on families, and ancestors, or even towns and villages." Pearce said, as a teacher, Cusack always engaged with questions from her students from research to discussions even if it deviated from the lesson plan. "It was always based on a question that one of the students would have," said Pearce. "I can understand why so many people said that she was their favourite teacher." |
This web site was designed by the late Ruby M. Cusack.
It is maintained by Carolyn Cusack Hawthorne and granddaughter Carrie Pearle Hawthorne.
No part may be reproduced or used without permission.
rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca