It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of Ranah Fortune (nee Hall) on July 5, 2025, at the age of 80. Ranah was the eldest daughter of Monty and Bertie Hall and was born in Chapleau, Ontario. Ranah’s first years were spent residing in Sinterville as her father Monty, worked at the Sinter Plant for Algoma Ore. Then in the fall of 1952, she and her younger sister Lynda, moved house (literally) with her parents to the townsite of Wawa. Their house, along with others, were moved from Sinterville to Hillcrest Avenue.
Ranah attended school in Wawa and graduated from Grade 13 at Michipicoten High School. During that time Ranah was active in the local Teen Town chapter as well as in the high school curling teams. After Grade 13 she attended the Ontario Teachers College in North Bay for one year and returned to Wawa in 1963 to teach Grade 4 at Sir James Dunn School. The following year she enrolled in summer school at the University of Windsor and taught at an elementary school in Sarnia, Ontario.
Later, she spent the rest of her working life working in the office of Anderson-Cooke in Chesterfield, Michigan.
During that time, she met the love of her life, Dave Fortune who was from Detroit, Michigan. They married in the summer of 1966 and continued to live in the Detroit/Chesterfield, Michigan area until both of their deaths.
While she spent the remainder of her life in the US, she always had a special place in her heart for her friends in Wawa and tried to make it a point to visit her mom and dad during blueberry season. Over the years she always tried to make the MHS reunions and had contemplated coming to the 70th anniversary that had been planned in 2024.
Ranah is predeceased by her husband, Dave (April 14, 2025), and her parents, Monty and Bertie Hall. She is survived by her daughter Debra Kilgore (Brent) and grandchildren Lauren and Steven Kilgore of Macomb, Michigan, her sister Lynda Nanni (Ben late) of Bruce Mines, Ontario, and her brother Bill (Averil) of Battleford, Saskatchewan.
Ranah and Dave will be interred at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan.
- FORTUNE, Ranah (Hall) - July 9, 2025
- Schreiber, Allan - July 5, 2025
- O’BRIEN, Emma Jean “Jean” - July 5, 2025