Nancy Hunt McKee Condliffe died in Toronto on August 1 after a decline brought on by Alzheimer’s disease. She was 75.

She was born on September 26, 1946 in Paget, Bermuda to Elizabeth (Libbie) Mary Hunt Outerbridge and Wallace Munro Outerbridge. She was adopted as a toddler by Libbie’s sister, Agnes (Nancy) Hunt McKee and her husband, John Lawrence McKee in New Liskeard, Ontario. Nancy knew and loved the McKees as her Mum and Dad and her birth parents as Libbie and Walmo.

She loved outdoor activities including canoeing and cross-country skiing. In 1971, she met her husband, Toby Condliffe, at a ski class on Burke Mountain in Vermont. She introduced him to her family on a five-day canoe trip in Algonquin Park. 

She first came to Martha’s Vineyard in 1972 to visit Toby, who at the time was business manager of the Vineyard Gazette. On this and future visits, she worked at the Gazette on Friday mornings, inserting sections of the newspaper. Toby proposed and Nancy accepted while sailing off West Chop. They were married in Toronto on June 8, 1974.

Nancy and Toby had three children, all of whom spent parts of every summer at their home on Hines Point. Their children, Keith, Elizabeth and Judy, all learned to sail on the Lagoon and at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club.

She attended primary school in New Liskeard, Ontario, high school in North Bay and medical school at the University of Toronto, class of 1970. Dr. Nancy McKee completed a rotating internship at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and a year of general practice in Peterborough before becoming the first woman to train in plastic surgery at the University of Toronto.

She became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1976 and launched her lifelong commitment to research with funding from the Medical Research Council. She joined the University of Toronto’s division of plastic surgery and the surgical staff at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital as both groups’ first female surgeon.  

She was fascinated by hands, in which she specialized. She loved her clinical practice and her interaction with so many patients. She was dedicated to supporting the next generations of clinician-scientists and led by example with discoveries in the areas of muscle structure and transfers. She was honored to receive lifetime achievement awards from both the division of plastic surgery and from the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons.

More than anything Nancy loved and was loved by her immediate and extended family. She and Toby were happily married for 48 years. Their son Keith Douglas Condliffe, his wife Mara and their sons, Kian and Galen, live in Comox, B.C. Their older daughter, Elizabeth Grace Condliffe, her partner Brian Whatley, and their daughter Mollie live in Calgary, Alberta. Their youngest, Judy Hunt Condliffe Suke, her husband Brian, and their children Anika and Gavin, live in Haliburton, Ontario. 

With Nancy’s stories about the rewards of helping others and about the outdoors, it’s no surprise that all three of her children became doctors and their grandchildren are avid adventurers on skis, on bikes and in canoes and sailboats.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, August 20 at 10 a.m. at Lawrence Park Community Church, 2180 Bayview avenue in Toronto. A link to attend the service virtually will be posted on the church’s website: (lawrenceparkchurch.ca/events/funeral-for-nancy-condliffe/2022-08-20).

Memorial donations may be made to the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living or the charity of your choice.