Longtime Oakville resident, Phyllis Lorraine Dunbar (nee Gunning), beloved mother, grandmother and friend, died on Saturday May 9, 2026. She was predeceased in 2021 by her husband of over 60 years, the financial journalist, A. Carlyle Dunbar. Born on April 27, 1934 in North Bay, Ontario, she was the daughter of the late Herbert and Marion (nee Cuthbert) Gunning.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law Iain and Mary Fenn-Dunbar of Burlington, Ontario; son, Gavin of Savannah, Georgia; daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and David Dell of Oakville, Ontario; and six grandchildren in whom she took unfailing delight: Molly and Martha Dunbar, and Madeleine, Andrew, Thomas and Iain Dell. She was predeceased by her brother Cuthbert (Cup) Gunning of North Bay in 2010.

Mrs. Dunbar, a graduate of North Bay Collegiate Institute, obtained a nursing degree from the Hamilton General Hospital School of Nursing in June 1956, where she was recognized with a general proficiency award for, among other skills, being unflappable under pressure. Through her classmate Diane Dunbar, she met her future husband, Diane’s brother. Carlyle and Phyllis were married the year after she graduated. The couple resided initially in Toronto, before moving to Clarkson (Mississauga), Ontario to raise their family; and in later years, to Oakville.

Phyllis had a fine singing voice and a deep love of music. She was known to her children – sometimes to their embarrassment – for singing the national anthem loudly and tunefully at school assemblies. Even in her final weeks, as other powers were failing, she surprised them by singing along clearly to favourite hymns.

A voracious reader, she enjoyed a good mystery or detective novel and the grittiest police procedurals on TV. A keen hockey fan, in her eighties she was the winner of the family Stanley Cup hockey pool.

A good and sympathetic listener, she enjoyed meeting new people and forged many enduring friendships with neighbours, with coworkers at Erindale College Library and in the congregation at Knox Presbyterian Church, Oakville.

Though she had a short nursing career, she never lost the nurse’s instinct for care, which her children experienced firsthand during the usual childhood illnesses when they were treated to the comforts of bed baths to cool a fever and tasty food to restore their appetites. Even though she herself struggled at times with health challenges, she retained to the end a remarkable ability to calm and reassure others in moments of distress, speaking with quiet authority and kindness.

Friends may call at Kopriva Taylor Funeral Home, 64 Lakeshore Road West on Friday,  Friday May 22nd from 2 pm to 4 pm and 6 pm to 8 pm.  A funeral will be held Saturday May 23 at 11 am at Knox Presbyterian Church, 89 Dunn Street, Oakville.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the staff at Venvi The Kensington and AgeCare Brant for their compassionate care. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Parkinson Canada or Knox Presbyterian Church Oakville would be appreciated. 

”whom in life we dearly cherished, and whom in death we cannot cease to love”