Obituary of Ninian Mellamphy

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Ninian Mellamphy

It is with great sadness that the family of Edward Ninian Mellamphy share the news of his death at the age of 86 in London Ontario on the night of June 13, 2023. Ninian was born in Kilkenny Ireland on September 16, 1936, and was raised in Kerry and Cork. He attended Rockwell College and University College Dublin before emigrating to Canada in 1962: first in Deer Lake Newfoundland and then in Winnipeg Manitoba, where he completed his Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Manitoba and met (as well as married) the love of his life, Cécile. Ninian and Cécile moved to London Ontario in 1970, where Ninian took up the post of Professor in the Department of English at Western (specializing in Renaissance English and Irish Literature, with a focus on the works of William Shakespeare). In the summers, he moonlighted as an international tour-guide for a local travel company—‘Small World Travel’—giving literary tours of Ireland, Italy, Greece, and France. Back in the day, when newly-arrived in Newfoundland, he even had a short-lived travel-show on the local CBC channel entitled ‘Wanderings with Ninian Mellamphy’. In London, Ninian was an active member of many social organizations, including the Kiwanis Club, the Baconian Society, the Irish Benevolent Society, the Retired Academics Group, various ongoing book-clubs, and of course the Saint Peter’s Cathedral community (he attended mass every Sunday).

He is survived by his wife Cécile (née Daoust), his three children—son Dan along with his daughter-in-law Nandita (née Biswas), daughter Janelle along with his son-in-law Michel (Lambert), son Marcel—and four grandchildren: Janelle’s sons Ronán and Éamon plus Marcel’s daughter and son, Capri and Cruz. He is also survived by his brother Brendan and sister-in-law Carol, their sons Simon, Nicholas and Matthew, as well as a host of many much-loved cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces-and-nephews in Ireland, England, New Zealand, North America, South America, and around the globe. He is preceded in death by his parents, Daniel and Eileen (née O’Shea) Mellamphy of Ireland, and his parents-in-law, Charles and Jeanne (née Guilbert) Daoust of Saint-Boniface Manitoba.

Visitation will be held on Monday June 19 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street, London. The funeral mass will be held on Tuesday June 20 at 10:00 am at Saint Peter's Cathedral Basilica, 196 Dufferin Avenue in London. A private interment will follow. Memorial donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.