Helen Louise "Miki" Spring

Miki Spring with her husband Don Spring and sons Bill, Peter, Bob and Don Jr.

Helen (Miki) Louise Mitchell Spring was born in San Antonio, Texas on Aug 23, 1924, the only child of Helen (née Rounds) and John A Mitchell. Her father was a prospector who traveled North America looking for oil and mineral claims. Miki’s mother passed away in 1927 while on a train as they were moving to Oklahoma. Her father then took her to Calais, Maine to live with her Aunt Mina. She was raised in vastly different households by Mina, Aunt Dora and Uncle George in Calais, New York City and Birmingham, Michigan.

At the age of 13, Miki took a three-day train by herself from Boston, MA to Timmins, Ontario to live with her father while he was developing a claim that later became Aunor Gold Mine. He too passed away shortly thereafter in 1941. An orphan with no permanent home, the one constant in Miki’s life was Taylor Statten Camps on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. She split her time between camp and Ontario Ladies College, and later, Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she forged a life-long relationship with her roommate's parents, Pap and Mam Attwood.  

Later, while working at Eaton’s in Toronto after finishing college, she was invited to dinner by her dentist who matched her up with Don Spring, a young chemical engineer at Kodak Canada. Don and Miki married on February 5th, 1949. In their nearly 50 years of marriage, they had four sons, Bill (Jeanine), Bob (Linda), Don Jr (Mary) and Peter (Tracy). In the 70’s, Miki was an active volunteer at 999 Queens St (now CAMH) where she organized a library and routinely interviewed the residents, compiling volumes of life stories.  

In 1979, Don and Miki retired from Hunthill Ct in Etobicoke to Huntsville, Ontario, where their family continued to grow, resulting in twelve grandchildren (Sarah, Christopher, Tobin, Rebecca, Greg, Erin, Stephanie, Jenny, Cynthia, Jeff, Connor and Katy). Pap (Don Spring Sr), passed in 1998. A wonderful storyteller who took great pleasure in writing books and poetry for her grandchildren, Miki lived on to see 13 great grandchildren (Jack, Shannan, Riley, Susannah, Thad, Margot, Jett, Hawksley, Elina, Jonah, Wren, Eleanor and Juniper). She passed peacefully on June 5, 2023, surrounded by family in the community she loved. A special thank you to the nurses and PSWs at Muskoka Landing, who made her last years (and days) pleasant and warm – she was always happy to return to you after her weekly lunches. 

Miki composed a song in 1941 about her beloved Canoe Lake that has been sung since by hundreds of campers. We feel it sums up her legacy: a witty knack for words, a desire to always create, a love of nature, and a character that looked for the silly joke and a little giggle. Every member of her family has a bit of that legacy in them, and their lives have been enriched because of it. With pride and full hearts, we leave you with her song:

'Storm in the night--no moon above

That cold dark feeling, can this be love?

I hear your voice whisper softly that melody divine,

And the air was filled with romance,

and I thought that you were mine.

Then fate came uninvited 

And broke that magic knot.

I waited in the shadows

and now I know I've got--

Those Algonquin Blues...'

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Friends of Algonquin Park and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

A Celebration of Her life will be held on Saturday, August 5th, 2023 from 2-4 p.m. at 2012 Etwell Road. Bring a favorite memory of Miki !