Dr. Deborah Evelyn Godsoe MD

Her loving family would like to announce the peaceful passing of Dr. Deborah Evelyn Godsoe, M.D., from cancer on September 23, 2022. Deb was born on March 26, 1953 in Moncton, New Brunswick, the eldest daughter of Percy E. Godsoe and Marcia (Steeves) Godsoe. Raised in Saint John, Deb left for Halifax to study at Dalhousie University in 1970. She completed a Bachelor of Science, excelling in mathematics and chemistry before going on to attend Dalhousie Medical School, graduating with the DalMed class of 1977. She was the youngest ever graduate of Dalhousie Medical School at the time of her graduation. Deb touched many people's lives with caring and kindness working as a family doctor in Halifax from 1979 to 2000, practicing for a time with her former husband Dr. Finlay Spicer. She later moved back to Saint John and worked as a hospitalist at the Saint John Regional Hospital, at the Saint John Sleep Disorders Clinic, and finally as Senior District Medical Officer for the Saint John branch of Veteran's Affairs Canada until her retirement in 2014. Deb pursued a variety of hobbies and enthusiasms throughout her life. She was an accomplished musician, playing piano, organ and guitar. Deb was a talented seamstress, making everything from prom dresses to Halloween costumes to custom Barbie clothes. Madeleine had the best dressed Barbies in town, down to luxurious faux fur coats, and Alexander was the best dressed werewolf and Winnie-the-Pooh the neighbourhood had ever seen. She was an avid quilter, completing a detailed quilt of the Krebs cycle with Madeleine for a high school biology class, as well as many more traditional beautiful quilts both on her own and as part of various quilting clubs. Deb was also a knitter, and almost everyone in her family and circle of friends had wonderful hand-knit personalized Christmas stockings, though as her arthritis worsened she had to give up making them. Alexander's stocking even took home a ribbon at the Atlantic Winter Fair. She loved embroidery, especially crewelwork, and passed that love on to Madeleine. A talent for watercolour painting issued forth many beautiful works of flowers, and tropical fish from Finlay's aquarium. Deb was a keen gardener, like her mother Marcia and Aunt Marion before her, and daughter Madeleine after her. She made lovely gardens at every home she lived in, and could identify every flower, tree, bird and insect that visited with her keen biologist's eye. Deb enjoyed photography, especially taking landscape and garden shots. She was a wonderful chef and baker, making celebrated and elaborate birthday cakes; another talent inherited from Marcia and passed to Madeleine. Debbie loved astronomy, taking her kids to watch the Persied Meteor showers every August, and geology and fossil hunting along the cliffs of Pictou and the Fundy Shore. Debbie was an adoring and doting pet parent to a series of dogs (German Shepherds Pemba and Chloe, and Pomeranian Max), cats, birds, rabbits, hamsters, and even, reluctantly, Alexander's tarantula. She was an avid reader, of everything from mystery to science fiction, and passed that love, as well as full bookshelves, to her children. She especially adored Harry Potter, a familiar favourite and source of comfort when read aloud during her illnesses and in her final days. It's message of kindness and the power of love, especially a mother's, to triumph over death and despair resonated deeply with her. Deb volunteered with the United Church Women's Group in Saint John. She was a member of St. John's United Church in Halifax, and later Portland United Church in Saint John. Deb was a wonderful mother to her two beloved children, Madeleine and Alexander. No mother was ever kinder or more loving, more gentle or more patient, even at three in the morning. She cheered her children on at every turn, was an active volunteer for Brownies and school trips, and went happily to every play and concert, no matter how small the role filled by her kids. She always had time to listen and teach, to admire a newfound skill or interest, from Madeleine's horseback riding to Alexander's karate and computer expertise. Deb's mothering was the envy of her children's friends, and she was happy to share it around, mothering and loving every child who entered her friendly orbit. Her wicked sense of humor was a light in dark times, and a firecracker in the bright ones; those who knew it will miss it dearly. Deb is survived by her children Madeleine Donna Spicer and Alexander Finlay Spicer, her mother Marcia Godsoe, her younger siblings Karen (Armel Daigle), Richard (Helene), Phyllis, and Douglas (Pam), as well her nieces and nephews Jennifer, Jonathan, Sarah, David, Charlie, Victoria and Allan, and her former husband and friend Dr. Finlay Roy Spicer and his wife Johanne Gallant, friend and former sister-in-law Donna Spicer, and close friend Janis Bowser. She was predeceased by her father Percy E. Godsoe in 2020, and her beloved pomeranian Max, who went ahead of her in July to make sure the food in heaven was up to snuff. It is her family's firm opinion she tripped over Max first thing through the Pearly Gates. Our family would like to thank Dr. Karen Anderson and Dr. Isabelle Delisle, all the doctors and staff at the Cancer Centre, and all the wonderful staff at 8.2 in the Halifax Infirmary. A heartfelt thanks and lifelong gratitude also go out to the wonderful staff and volunteers at the miraculous Hospice Halifax, where Deb passed. A final thanks goes out to everyone who was ever a patient of Deb's; she dreamed of being a doctor from a young age, and fought hard to achieve it. Her life of service to all the people she took care of was a source of deep pride and joy, to her and to our family. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to Hospice Halifax.

Dr. Deborah Evelyn Godsoe MD

March 26, 1953 - September 23, 2022