It is with great sadness that the family of Olive “Ollie” Mae MacDougall (nee Hiscock) announces the passing of our beloved mother, sister and grandmother. Ollie passed away peacefully at Dartmouth General Hospital surrounded by family on Saturday January 10, 2026.

Olive was born July 25, 1933, the tenth of twelve children to the late John and Olive Hiscock (nee Ellis) in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. Following high school, Olive joined her sisters Kaye and Etta in Halifax, where she found work as a hostess at Lohnes’ Restaurant. It was here that she first met her husband James “Jim” MacDougall, confessing to her best friend Carol that she was crazy about the good-looking guy who regularly popped in for a cup of coffee.

Ollie and Jim were married September 3, 1955 in North Sydney and raised three children, Dianne, Carol and John, in their home on Laurier Street in Dartmouth. After raising their family, Ollie and Jim left the city and returned to Jim’s childhood home – Riverside Farm (Riverside Corner, Hants County) – where they lived for many years before building a home and moving to West Gore.  

Olive delighted in her family, and they were at the center of everything she did. She had the ability to make everyone around her feel special. This included not only her children and grandchildren but the neighborhood kids as well. She sewed Halloween costumes, attended ballet recitals, drove kids to early morning hockey practices, baked treats, cooked holiday dinners, sewed weddings dresses, quilted baby blankets but most of all made sure that each member of her family felt her care and love. She was always good for a laugh, a joke or a story about growing up in Cape Breton. She could mend broken hearts just as easily as she could mend a sweater and had the patience of Job. 

Ollie could turn her hand to anything – sewing, quilting, knitting, cooking, baking and gardening were among her many talents. Of note was her penchant for baking, with her pies, bread, jams and pickles being favorites of her family and friends. Everyone always made sure to save room for dessert at the end of one of her meals. Her holiday baking was legendary, with her spending many hours baking cookies, cakes, squares and other goodies which she stashed in the freezer leading up to the holidays. This led to many a midnight tiptoe down to the basement freezer for a sample by grandchild and adult alike (sorry Mom).

Ollie’s home reflected not only the things that brought her joy but the value she placed on sharing that joy with others; hummingbird feeders, flowers from her garden, homemade quilts on the beds and walls, little knitted dolls, pictures of her children and grandchildren, a loaf of freshly baked bread with jam canned from her garden, the cookie jars all filled, a freshly baked pie cooling in the pantry before dinner. She loved entertaining, playing cards, and her travels with Jim, her brother Jack and his wife Edie. She delighted in hosting family, especially for holidays where no one left with an empty stomach.

But it is Mom’s spirit of strength, generosity, humour, grace and compassion that remains with us most. She was steady, joyful and generous. She embraced life with determination, steadfastness, and giving. These qualities touch her children and grandchildren deeply:  Dianne Quan (Phil Dalgleish) of Calgary, Carol Phelan (Mike) of Dartmouth, and John MacDougall (Kathleen Wildfeuer) of Hammonds Plains; and her grandchildren Natalie Quan (Vancouver), Liam Phelan (Yarmouth), Emily Phelan (Halifax), and Amelia and Jacob MacDougall (Halifax)

Olive was predeceased by her husband James; brothers Ernest, Maurice, George, Bill, Ronnie and Jack; sisters Alma, Joyce, Addie; and granddaughter Grace (Phelan). She is survived by her sisters Kathleen (Ottawa) and Etta (Smith Falls) and many members of her extended family.

We celebrate and treasure forever Olive’s love, courage, and light that she gave so freely.

The family would like to thank the staff at Parkland on the Lakes where she spent her final years and express our sincere gratitude to the doctors and nurses at the Dartmouth General Hospital who delivered compassion and care beyond our expectations in her final hours.

A celebration of life will be held in the summer with details to follow. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to: The Alzheimer’s Society of Nova Scotia.

Condolences, words of comfort and memories of Olive may be shared with the family at: www.ettingerfuneralhome.com