Mona Jean (Dolly) Martin (nee McKay)
Mona Jean (Dolly) Martin (nee McKay)
1931 - 2025 Aged Ninety-Three
Passed away peacefully on May 14th, 2025 due to complications from pneumonia.
With great love and deep sadness, we announce the passing of Dolly Martin: a force of nature, devoted mother and grandmother, and a woman who quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) changed the world around her simply by showing up, day after day, with unstoppable capability and boundless kindness.
Born in North Bay, Ontario, to a large family. She had 2 brothers and 5 sisters. Her mother was one of 16 children and her father one of 19. This upbringing shaped the person she was. Her husband Cal was famous for asking, “Can I do that?” and then giving it a go. Dolly, on the other hand, always knew she could do it and so she just did.
Dolly was many things: a trailblazer, a caregiver, a party planner, but above all, a defier of expectations. She was an avid skier both on water and on snow, conquering the Laurentian ski jump at a very young age. Standing just under five feet tall, she wasn’t exactly an obvious threat on the basketball court…until you were playing against her. As a girl, she played on a championship team that collected wins all across Ontario. She also played shinny with NHL legends-to-be like Stan Mikita and Tim Horton. Later, she worked at the North Bay airport which was an unusual job for a woman in those days, but Dolly didn’t much care for “usual.” She navigated it all with ease, even hitching rides in warplanes with hotshot pilots, although the real high-flyer turned out to be Cal, who fell hard for her confidence and spark. He chased her and chased her until she finally decided he might be worth a date.
Together, Dolly and Cal built a beautiful life and a respected family business. They were Lake of Bays pioneers, running Kelmar Marina during the day then dancing at Bigwin into the night. For 27 years they ran the business with integrity, hard-work, and the kind of open-door spirit that saw customers return years after their boats were gone, just to say hello. Many of Dolly's young relatives and cottagers children enjoyed summer jobs there pumping gas.
However, Dolly’s proudest achievement was raising (read: taming) four boys. She taught them the important things: independence, reliability and how to make a dinner table the centrepiece of a warm and loving life. She didn’t stop there though. Dolly became a second mother to nieces, nephews, neighbourhood kids, and about half the hockey teams in Lake of Bays. If you needed a ride to a game three towns over, she would already be in the driver’s seat. She was the one everyone turned to—not just because she could do anything, but because she would.
A cornerstone of her community, Dolly helped raise funds to build a new arena, served on the library committee, and never sat still long enough to receive the due credit for her hard work. Every Thanksgiving, she’d drive three hours to pick up a boat, work the busiest day of the year at the marina, and still have a full turkey dinner for 20 or more on the table by nightfall. She didn’t just believe in pulling her weight, she believed in hitching it to a trailer and getting moving.
Dolly didn’t teach life lessons so much as live them: Be kind. Be capable. Don’t wait to be asked. Show up. Do the work. Love your people fiercely, feed them well, and don’t forget the blueberry pie.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Calvin, and her son, Christopher. She leaves behind her sons Michael (Pamela), Stephen (Barbara), and Timothy (Lucy); her grandchildren John, Alec, Ali, Olivia, Sabreena, Isla, and Rebecca; and great-grandchildren Theodore, Samantha, Jack, and Billy, each of whom carries a little of her wit, warmth, and wild determination in their hearts.
A celebration of Dolly’s extraordinary life will be held later this summer, when we’ll gather to share stories and raise a toast to the woman who taught us how to live with heart, humour, and a hell of a lot of horsepower. Please revisit this site for the confirmed details.