The Reverend Father Andrew (Andy) Macbeth
elevated qiStl June 20, 1948 ~ August 15, 2024
elevated qiStl Visitation
Tuesday, August 20, 2024 from 2 – 4 & 6 – 8 pm
elevated qiStl Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home
211 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill, ON, L3T 3Z6
elevated qiStl Funeral Mass
Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 10:00 am
elevated qiStl St. John the Evangelist Parish
903 Giffard Street, Whitby, ON, L1N 2S3
elevated qiStl Click here to view the Funeral Mass
elevated qiStl Reception
Following the Funeral Mass in the Parish Hall
elevated qiStl Interment
Queen of Clergy, St. Augustine’s Seminary Burial Grounds
2661 Kingston Road, Scarborough, ON
elevated qiStl Plot: 20
elevated qiStl Obituary
Fr. Andy Macbeth passed away on August 15, 2024 at Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence in Scarborough, Ontario. During the hyphen between his birth date and date of death, the following occurred. Fr. Andy was born in Oshawa and lived his early years with his adopting parents, Jack and Virginia (Pegi) Macbeth and brother Michael in Leaside. Ongoing Journey for Learning: St. Anselm’s, K-7, St. Bonaventure’s, 8, Christian Brothers Junior Novitiate, 9-11, De La Salle Oaklands, 12, St. Augustine’s College, ’66-’69, St. Augustine’s Seminary, BA ’70 UofT, M Div. ’73 TST, Santa Barbara Sabbatical, ’93, Good Leaders / Good Shepherds, ’15 (and continuing …). Ordained a Deacon on April 22 ’73 and a Priest on April 26 ’75 at St. Andrew’s parish, Rexdale by Archbishop Pocock. Fr. Andy served as an Associate Pastor in: St. Andrew’s Rexdale, ’73-’78, St. John’s, Kingston Rd. ’78-’79, Nativity Parish, Etobicoke, ’79-‘82, St. Patrick’s, Mississauga, ’82-‘83. He served as Pastor at: St. Patrick’s, Stayner and St. Noel Chabanel, Wasaga Beach, ’83-’88, Our Lady of Assumption/RC Mission, Iqaluit, NWT ’88-’91, St. John the Evangelist, Whitby, ’91-’03, St. Margaret of Scotland, Toronto, ’03-’22. In addition to his parish ministry, Fr. Andy provided service as: Chaplain: Guelph Correctional Centre, Notre Dame, Madonna and Philip Pocock, High Schools and Marygrove Camp, Civilian Chaplain to CFB Borden & CFB Chilliwack, RCMP Iqaluit (G Div.). As well, Rotary Club-Paul Harris Fellow, Iqaluit ’88-‘91, SAS Priests’ Alumni 9 yrs. Priests Council ’79-‘84, ‘91-’93, Priests’ Seminar Committee: Member ’92-’95, ’02-’03 and Chair ’04-’07. Upon retirement, in 2022, Fr. Andy moved to Marion Place in Oshawa and subsequently to Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence in Scarborough. Fr. Andy’s remaining family are his brother Mike and his nieces and nephews, Robyn, Katie, Jeffrey and William.
elevated qiStl Famous Last Saying: “Thanks for the Memories” and don’t forget “Life is not a Problem to be Solved, but a Mystery to be Lived”!
elevated qiStl Instead of flowers you are invited to make a donation in Fr. Andy’s memory to:
elevated qiStl The Shepherd’s Trust https://www.shepherdstrust.org/,
elevated qiStl Good Shepherd Ministries https://goodshepherd.ca/ , or
elevated qiStl the Terry Fox Foundation https://terryfox.org/contact-us/
What a wonderful – priest and friend. He was there in my time of need. How we enjoyed his weekly sermons. I know he is rejoicing now – In peace and whole once again. He made many lifelong friends at St John’s in Whitby. I will remember how he loved golf and the laughter and fellowship after those annual “Brown Family” tournaments. “… eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Fr. Andy was one of my closest friends and confidants as a young man at St. Augustine’s;
may his saintly example will guide me for the rest of my life.
Requiescat in pace!
Hello Michael – Remembering our very first neighbour and some of the fun we had with you and Drew on Leacrest Road. I’m sorry he is gone. I’m in Georgetown now, MArgaret in the Falls and George is near Huntsville. Leaside was a good place to grow up then.
To Mike, Robyn, Kaite, Jeffrey and William,
My sincere condolences on the death of Father Andy. I knew him to be a man who cared for others with compassion, had an appreciation for the beauty of our nothern lands and cared deeply for the people he was called to serve.
May your memories bring comfort.
I’m so sorry and shocked to hear that. I have many fond memories of Fr Andy from my days at Nativity of Our Lord in Etobicoke, especially our time leading youth group.
Rest well Fr. Andy after a lifetime of service.
Thank you for your support and help over the years. A good man.
Dear Mike, Robyn, Katie, Jeffrey and William,
My deepest condolences, know that your brother and uncle was loved and cared for. He was one of a kind, extra emphasis on the kind. I will dearly miss our day trips, his stories, his quotes, his wisdom, his humour, loved for Canada and polar bear. He was my good friend and fatherlike. Grateful for our time together and keep them in heart. One of my greatest blessings.
RIP Fr. Andy, Polar bear gone fishing!
Rest in peace, Father Andy. A kind pastor who listened to me when I needed to talk to someone. His life was a life of service.
Fr. Andy had a great laugh! I will miss hearing his laughter during our regular chats on the phone. No matter what he was going through with his health, or wrestling with during the pandemic, he could always manage a chuckle. We also had great discussions about what he had heard on the news about education. I will miss his quotes and words of encouragement to help me get through the tough days in my classroom, as well as the ones to celebrate the great days. I will miss his emails with inspirational articles and videos that he believed would be helpful to me in my teaching. Most of all, I will miss his genuine care and concern for myself, my family, and especially for my students, as he never forgot the Rexdale neighbourhood where he started out as a priest. “Bloom where you are planted” are words that he said to me often, and I will never forget them.
To quote Fr. Andy’s final homily at St. Margaret: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.”—I will miss you, Fr. Andy. Thank you for all that you did for our Faith community. God bless you. My sincerest condolences to the Macbeth family.
I have many happy memories’ of my time with Father Andy at the youth Group at Nativity. Red River cereal and John Denver.. sunshine on my shoulders. Long bicycle rides. Spaghetti Dinners for the parish. What fun they bring a smile to my face. Saddened for the loss to our world and all the many people he touched. you will be missed!
My deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of Father Andy Macbeth – I recall well many memories before he was ordained and posted at St. Andrew’s Church in Etobicoke, and later honored to have directed the music and played the piano and organ at his ordination in the same church. We worked well together for a number of years afterwards with both of us working the Friday night Youth Group and many outings in his van around Southern Ontario. Frank Hogan was the Pastor and we were such an incredible team together. Those were great years – his smile, his wit and his deep faith came through in all of his actions. God bless Andy and welcome him home to everlasting peace. He was a gift to all of us and now will rest as one of God’s finest angels. Grateful to have shared such a great part of life together throughout the years. Peace Andy. Rieso Pellegrini
I remember Fr Andy MacBeth from St Andrew’s Parish. I remember him when he first joined the Parish, then as an ordained Priest. I was a member of the Youth Club at St Andrew’s and have so many fond memories of the things we did as a group. I emailed with him briefly in 2020 and am very sorry to hear of his passing. My condolences to his family.