Iris McNeil

Iris Phyllis (Cooper) McNeil, aged 90, of Arthurette, N.B. passed away peacefully at the Victoria Glen Manor in Perth-Andover, N.B. on November 9, 2025 surrounded by her loving family. Iris was born on February 28, 1935 in Odell, N.B. to Oliver Philip Cooper of Derbyshire, England and Myrel Jane Wright of Odell, N.B. Iris was predeceased by her husband of nearly 68 years, John William (Bill) McNeil. Iris is survived by her and Bill’s children: Cheryl Sadler (John) of Perth-Andover, N.B.; Shelley Ashford (David) of Perth-Andover, N.B.; Stanley McNeil (Ruby Parsons) of Fredericton, N.B.; Christopher McNeil (Colleen McCarthy) of Perth-Andover, N.B.; Susan McNeil (Kevin Graber) of Surrey, B.C.; and nephew Luke Cooper (Tammy Gamblin) of Odell N.B.; 12 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren scattered across Canada, the USA, the UK, and China; and her sister Annie Lloyd of Plaster Rock, N.B. Iris was predeceased by her father and mother in 2006, her brother Philip in 2016, and her sister Mary Oneill in 2022.

As a child, Iris was part of the last generation raised in her early years in Upper Arthurette on a New Land Farm, an isolated acreage in the back woods of rural New Brunswick without electricity, indoor plumbing, or access to the other amenities of modern life we take for granted. Each day she walked through the woods and across the fields to catch a horse and wagon ride to the one room schoolhouse with her grandfather as he made his rounds collecting cream from the local farmers for the Farmers’ Co-op Dairy.

As a new high school graduate, Iris worked for a time in the town of Plaster Rock at the local pharmacy before marrying her high school sweetheart, Bill, on November 12, 1954. They moved to Georgetown, Ontario in search of new adventures as a young couple but returned to the Tobique in the summer of 1957 when the pull of family and the rural way of life became stronger than the lure of larger towns and cities. Together, they assumed the operation of a general store in Arthurette that had been owned and operated for the previous 40 years by Bill’s great-uncle and great-aunt, and then in 1968 they purchased Raymond W. Sisson’s General Store across the railroad tracks from their existing business; in 1994, they relocated their business to a newly built convenience store in Red Rapids, N.B. This store remains in the family, and it is now owned and operated by their son in-law, David Ashford, and their daughter, Shelley.

Throughout her life, Iris was committed to her family, community, and church. Her quiet dedication and resolute service to others is what those who knew and loved her will, perhaps, remember and cherish most. Her children, and later grandchildren, as well as extended family and community members knew that she was a steady and nonjudgmental loving presence waiting in the wings to step forward when called upon, without causing others to feel self conscious about that need. This desire to serve others also led to her 50+years of membership in the Women’s Institute, an organization founded in 1911 and dedicated to improving lives in both rural and urban communities. Additionally, she was an avid supporter of numerous charitable organizations, with a special emphasis on those supporting cancer research, such as The Canadian Cancer Society through participation in the yearly Terry Fox fundraising events, as well as for those organizations providing aid to children in developing countries, such as UNICEF and World Vision via child sponsorship. Moreover, she and Bill opened their home to two exchange students from China in 1999, and one of those students, Mary, became a bonus granddaughter to Iris, maintaining a loving relationship and attendance at all major family functions over the ensuing years, including a final visit shortly before Iris’s death. With regards to her church, and in keeping with this spirit of service, Iris was also an active member of St. Helen’s Anglican Church in Licford, N.B., serving as a Sunday school teacher and organizer of church events, including the much attended annual church suppers, Christmas nativity plays, and children’s field days.

Iris gave her children an appreciation for nature by taking them in the woods to look for the first trilliums of spring, to the meadows to pick the wild berries of the summer, atop high vantage points to admire the beauty of the changing leaves in the autumn, and across the white hills by snow shoe to look for animal prints and other wonders in the winter. Iris will be remembered by her children and honorary children as the best mother anyone could ask for: patient, kind, selfless, and able to create special moments out of ordinary ones. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her, by those whose lives she touched and changed.

A celebration of Iris' life will be held at the Perth-Andover Baptist Church on Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 2 pm. A reception will follow at the church hall. Interment will be in St. Machutus Anglican Cemetery in Arthurette, NB.

The family would like to thank the staff members at the Victoria Glen Manor who every day demonstrate their dedication and loving care for residents like Mom. We are so grateful that she was with you.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Brunswick Funeral Home, Perth-Andover, NB.