Sheila Elizabeth Forward passed away on November 15th, 2025.

Sheila was born in Belleville, Ontario, to Neva and Edward Ward in 1954. She lost her father at the age of 4 to tuberculosis. When her mother remarried, she moved to Toronto, Ontario, ten years later where she attended East York High School. She later was a student at the Universities of Waterloo, Laval, and Toronto, where she was awarded both Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees. She studied French and spent time in France both as an au pair and an English teaching assistant. It is there that she met her future husband Jeremy Forward. After their marriage, and five years’ teaching in England they moved to Canada.

She taught the very first classes of French Immersion at Cobourg District Collegiate East. She developed the first French Immersion programme in the now KPR District School Board up to Grade 13. She left teaching to start a family and was the proud and busy mother of three beautiful daughters, Pamela, Claire, and Sarah.

Throughout her youth and adulthood Sheila enjoyed all of the arts. She read widely and played her beloved piano to the performer’s level. Also she enjoyed painting and creating. Her paintings and her drawings and the beauty of the piano playing will remain with us always.

Family and friends will be received at Rushnell Funeral Home, 103 Mill Street North on Thursday, November 20th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

Funeral Service will be held Friday November 21, 2025 at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, 33 Pine Street North, Port Hope at 11:00am. Cremation to follow.

Donations may be made in Sheila’s memory to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)