Obituary of Dr. Maitland John McNeil

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, Dr. Maitland John McNeil, on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Maitland was predeceased by his parents, Archie and Kathleen McNeil; and his son Sean McNeil. He is survived by his 5 children, Colin McNeil (Melynda Loder), Katharine McNeil (Chris Haas), Erin McNicol (Curran), Adam Bertsch (Michalina Jasniak), and Emma Weinberger (Erik); his brothers Kent McNeil (Kathy Simo) and Paul McNeil (Annie Steltenpohl); and sister Dawn McNeil (John Sanderson). Maitland is also survived by his 11 grandkids: Quinn, Charlie, Elliot, Lauren, Abby, Isla, Declan, Hunter, Marley, Ivy and Luna.

He was born in Regina on September 22, 1943. Maitland graduated from Sheldon Williams High School and, after attending Regina College for two years, went off to the University of Saskatchewan to begin his medical studies. He graduated from the College of Medicine in 1967 and shortly after headed off to Malawi where he practiced as a physician with CUSO for several years. In his over 45-year career, he worked as a physician in many communities, such as La Ronge, Wynyard and Arcola just to name a few. Early on in his career, Maitland was invited to help set up the first rural community clinic in Saskatchewan which was then officially opened by Tommy Douglas, one of our dad’s “heroes”, in his words. He was always very passionate about working with various First Nations communities as a travelling doctor and was well loved for his kind bedside manner and attentiveness to his patients. In 2015 he was awarded the Senior Life Designation award for his lifelong contribution in the medical field.

Maitland will also be remembered for his talented gardening abilities. He was well known for his amazing elaborate gardens and had an incredible green thumb. His Regina home was featured in the secret gardens tours and was a beautiful sanctuary for him where he would “feel euphoric” and proudly give you a walk through. It never ceased to amaze us how he could take any garden space and transform it into a thing of beauty.

As an avid outdoorsman, Maitland was most at home out in nature. He loved camping and fishing and thrived on teaching his children how to excel at these skills as well. Many musical instruments always filled his home, as he could play multiple instruments and loved being part of the church, whether that was singing in the choir or playing the clarinet, saxophone or piano.

Our dad will be greatly missed. He loved his children and was very proud of all his kids and grandkids, attending their sports and bragging them up to anyone within earshot. A celebration of our father’s life will be held at a later date. If anyone wishes, the family would appreciate donations to the Canadian Diabetes Association, 919B Albert St, Regina, SK S4R 2P6, in his honour.