MONA CORINNE MCCLINTOCK

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

MONA CORINNE MCCLINTOCK

February 11, 1957 - July 20, 2023

Mona passed away the morning of July 20, 2023 at the Health Sciences Centre.

She was predeceased by her father William Dunlop McClintock in 1979 and her mother Linda McClintock in 2002. She is survived by her half-brother, Patrick, in Montreal.

She was always proud to be a descendent of Sir Leopold McClintock, the Irish explorer who went to the Canadian Arctic in search of the lost Franklin expedition.

Mona was born in Montreal but spent five years of her early life in Phoenix and Seattle where her father's career in the aero-space industry took the family.

Returning to Quebec, she graduated from Dorval High School (to an equivalent of Grade 11), moved to Winnipeg with her mother and finished high school at Dakota Collegiate.

She returned to Montreal where she worked four years at CIBC, rising from teller to assistant manager of a branch of the bank. But she endured four armed robberies; in one a gun was held to her head and in another a shot was fired. This left her with lifelong panic attacks.

Back to Winnipeg in 1982 she worked at the Fort Garry Hotel as sales coordinator, then Royal Trust as an executive secretary. She found many friends at the Winnipeg Press Club, and it was there she met her husband.

They were married in 1988. A few years later he introduced her to New York City, which sparked a love affair of a different kind. Mona instantly embraced the energy, style and excitement of the Big Apple and they returned annually.

Thanks to New York, Mona was a fashion influencer before the word was even coined. She would return from Manhattan with clothes and shoes that wouldn't be on sale in Winnipeg for six months. Women would stop her on the street and ask,"Where did you get that?"

It even worked in reverse. On one trip, in February to celebrate her birthday, she and her husband arrived in the middle of a blizzard that dumped 15 inches of snow. As they walked about dressed for a Manitoba winter, New York women would stop Mona and ask,"Where did you get that coat?" "Winnipeg," she'd answer coolly.

In 1991 Mona got to live out a dream of hers since a child - she was accepted into the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. At 34 she was one of the older students, but she threw herself into her studies with joy.

But New York had kindled a different fire in her. Mona had worked with a theatre company in Montreal and loved it, but now, after seeing a dozen Broadway plays, she was burning to use her artistic talents in theatrical set design. She switched her studies to English and Drama at the U of Winnipeg.

After working on several amateur productions in Winnipeg, she realized she couldn't make it a career. Around that time she also realized she wanted to go solo, to give up a big house and big yard for a low-maintenance condo and regular dips in a swimming pool, one of her passions.

She took a college course in graphic design and started Stage Right, her own marketing, communications and design company. She even won a contract from New York's American Museum of Natural History to her delight.

She became a member of Mensa, the oldest high-IQ society in the world, which Wikipedia describes as open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.

A highlight of her life was organizing a Dorval High School Class of 1973 reunion in Montreal. It was so successful that Mona was given a standing ovation on closing night.

Mona was enjoying a job as office manager at 6P Marketing group when her health took a turn for the worse.

From banking to Broadway, hospitality to design, Mona grabbed everything that came her way with gusto. She will be greatly missed.

Cremation has taken place. A wake in Mona's honour will be held at the Irish Club, 654 Erin St., from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Mona was working hard to arrange another Doval reunion, 10 years after the first, although she wasn't sure her health would allow her to attend. Organizers have said Dorval High grads attending the 50th anniversary reunion will have a drink to Mona's memory.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 05, 2023