MP Notables – Graham Arthur Rubeli (1936-2023) and Mari Rubeli (1938-2024)
A legacy of talent, caring and contribution
Graham and Mari Rubeli, devoted to family and long-time residents of Manor Park, lived creative and rewarding lives, leaving an indelible mark on our community.
Graham, Australia-born and a life-long athlete, grew up in Melbourne playing football and tennis. After graduating with an engineering degree from the University of Melbourne, Graham embarked on a ‘traditional’ Australian world tour. He travelled to Europe, working in the United Kingdom, and eventually took a job offer with Canadian structural engineering firm Adjeleian and Associates in Montreal, moving to Canada in 1963.
Mari (née McWhirter) was born on a farm in Millikan, north of Toronto. Adventurous, independent and a champion sprinter, she studied journalism at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University). After graduation she had a varied career as a journalist, advertising copywriter, public relations officer and later, an entrepreneur.
She traveled across Canada and North America, working on the Columbia Icefields, road tripping to Mexico, and hitching rides on logging trucks from Tofino. Eager to escape rainy Vancouver, Mari headed to Montreal where she met Graham, the love of her life. There, she worked as an advertising copywriter for Hoffman Laroche and, rather famously, interviewed French singer and lyricist Edith Piaf. Graham and Mari married in 1965.
Canada’s Centennial in 1967 launched a construction boom in Ottawa, and Adjeleian opened a local consulting engineering office. Graham and Mari took that opportunity to move to Ottawa. Graham, a founding partner of Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd., was involved in the construction of many federal buildings.
His key projects included the Fathers of Confederation Building (now the Confederation Centre of the Arts) in Charlottetown, PEI and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Graham’s engineering portfolio also included the design of the Canadian Aviation Museum and renovations for the Montfort Hospital. He mentored many young structural engineers who have since gone on to lead the profession across Canada.
Settled in Ottawa and first living at the Brittany Apartments in Manor Park with Graham, Mari worked as an editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, eventually moving to the public relations office of the Ottawa Civic Hospital. In 1971, Graham and Mari bought a Manor Park Hill house on Meadow Drive (renamed Meadow Park Place after amalgamation). They started a family with Brent born in 1972 and David in 1975, making Manor Park their home and community with their children attending local public schools.
Mari and Graham’s jobs brought them together at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) with Graham handling the structural design and Mari, public relations for its grand opening in 1975.
In 1980, then-Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewar announced her commitment to Project 4000 — an initiative to resettle Vietnamese refugees to Ottawa. Looking to help, Mari and her Manor Park friends, Marina Pascoe and Gillian Kenward, began collecting clothing for newcomers arriving with children in the depths of an Ottawa winter.
The community responded and filled their homes with donations. In 1982, the friends opened a store to sell some of the collected clothing to raise money for the families — Clothes Encounters of a Second Time was born. Together, they ran the consignment clothing store on Beechwood Avenue from 1982 until 2002, when former employee Monique Dugas (married to Brent Rubeli) took over. Still going strong today, the store is the second oldest business on Beechwood.
Quiet resilience
Mari was blessed with a quiet resilience, a sense of humour and a tireless devotion to her family, friends and community. An excellent cook, she enjoyed hosting get-togethers at her beloved Ottawa home and lunches and après-ski at Mont Tremblant. Her many passions included theatre, jazz, mystery novels, gardening, baseball, skiing, tennis and golf. Mari continued to work part-time as a bookkeeper for Clothes Encounters.
Graham loved spending summers with Mari at friends’ cottages or playing tennis and golf. In the winter, he enjoyed skiing with family and friends at their Mont Tremblant retreat.
Graham retired in 2007, and he and Mari traveled the world together visiting Australia and Vancouver to see close family and friends. They road-tripped to Florida, and explored New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, the UK, Israel, Jordan, and Malta.
Graham showed amazing courage, resilience and determination to keep active and enjoy life during his last 15 years with Parkinson’s disease. Mari devoted herself to his care and held strong to her vision that they remain at home. All who knew Mari were inspired by her strength and perseverance as she overcame her own health challenges, all the while caring for the person she loved most.
Graham passed away in November 2023, and Mari in January 2024. Their significant and lasting legacy of talent, genuine human decency and exemplary living lives on for family, friends and the community to treasure.
With kind appreciation to the family.
A Manor Park Notable is a snapshot of an individual (now deceased) who lived in the Manor Park area, and who made a difference either through career or community involvement. Please send your suggestions for candidates or submissions to manorparknotables@gmail.com.
