Polly Good

of Kitchener

Born: March 3, 1922, in Virginia

Died: Aug. 8, 2008, of organ failure

Elegantly slender and full of creative energy, Polly Good was a diminutive tour de force, a lady with strong ideas about how everything should be done. And by gosh, you had better abide.

Pat Johnston of Burlington often butted heads with her strong-willed mother, yet she also grew to appreciate this dynamo who accomplished so much despite a neverending desire to find something new, exciting and challenging.

Born the youngest of two girls in Virginia's stunning Shenandoah Valley, Polly led a very comfortable life. Her father Edgar Cline had become his family's main breadwinner at age 13, a responsibility that instilled a strong work ethic in the young man. When a local businessman helped Edgar launch an egg business, he became a champion breeder, developing hens that produced perfectly shaped eggs. The eggs were in hot demand by New York City restaurants which paid the princely sum of 90 cents a dozen during the Depression. Over the years the business expanded to include turkeys, allowing Polly to grow up a southern belle, though her background was Mennonite.

Polly graduated from Goshen College in Indiana, leaving in 1947 with more than just a degree in home economics. "She met Howard, from St. Jacobs, at Goshen," said Pat. The couple married June 26, 1948 in a marriage that was both traditionally Mennonite and quintessentially Polly.

Mennonite custom dictated wedding gowns must be "princess length" and plain. Full-length gowns were considered "too worldly" and though Polly did comply, once the marriage vows were said and done, she was suddenly wearing a full-length gown and everyone in her bridal party had a huge corsage. Pat has no idea how she did this, but laughs at the cheekiness of her mother.

After marriage, the couple moved to St. Jacobs and later Kitchener where Howard ministered until giving up the cloth to become a teacher. Together they raised three sons and a daughter, in a household where Polly was in charge.

"She designed their house on Edgehill, designed the gardens, everything," said Pat, recalling her mother's refined taste and sense of colour and design. Polly was installing oak floors while everyone else was into shag. "She was a renaissance woman," Pat said. "Whatever she did, she did well."

Polly became known for her design skills and knowledge of antiques, which she sold from a small shop in her home. The Stone Crock restaurant in St. Jacobs hired Polly to fill the place with antiques but she also had ideas about patrons' comfort.

"She wanted to design chairs like the old style, but comfortable," Pat explained. "Everything had to be perfect. She got a design patent, then found an old order Mennonite with a hand lathe."

Always impeccably dressed in a three-piece suit with matching jewelry, Polly was a lady fuelled by creative impulses. Her hands were never idle and she also loved music and theatre and had passion for history. Pat talked about family road trips across North America, stopping at historic sites. Polly wanted her children to fully experience life, once taking them to a black church in Alabama during a tumultuous time in American history.

In their retirement, Polly and Howard became world travellers, with Polly seeking adventure off the beaten track. She also had an unyielding desire for knowledge, reading books and newspapers, following current events.

Howard died in 1996 and shortly after, Polly began losing her hearing, which eventually led her to move into a retirement home and then later a nursing home. In both places her sense of design remained strong. Pat said her mother cut out photos of furniture and using grid paper, she decided where the pieces would be placed in her new room. Everything had to be as Polly dictated, to the very end.

vhill@therecord.com