Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Some people and places are so special, their impact never diminishes.

For Dan Miller, Mimi (Mary) Ettinger is that person and Sarnia’s Tecumseh Park is that place.

Miller, now 31, was one of a group of little kids in Ettinger’s daycare who walked behind her little red wagon every summer day as she took them to Tecumseh Pool for swimming lessons. 

 “She was the best babysitter and the one I remember the most,” said Miller.

For at least 15 summers, Ettinger walked daily along Russell Street South wearing a fuzzy, purple fedora and pulling a wagon full of children and snacks.  

“Mimi insisted the parents of the kids in her daycare sign them up for swimming lessons,” said her sister Ruth Francoeur. 

“Then they’d have lunch in the park and go for open swim afterward,” said Dan’s mom, Marieanne Miller. “Mimi made dropping our kids off so much easier because she loved them like her own.”

That love was on full display Monday at Tecumseh Park’s public pool as former daycare kids, their parents, family and friends surprised Ettinger with flowers and cake.

Ettinger, 75, lives in a nursing home now and memories are beginning to fade.

“You never know how long you have,” said her sister.  “The last few years have been very difficult so we are trying to bring some sunlight into her life.”

“You used to babysit me a long time ago,” Dan Miller said as he presented a bouquet to Ettinger. 

“And you still turned out okay!” she immediately laughed.

“Mimi was a fixture down here at the pool.  Everyone called her a legend,” said her granddaughter Bailey Ettinger, who announced at the gathering that Mimi will be a great-grandmother again in a few months.

“She’d bring snacks for all the lifeguards every day and invited (Tecumseh Park philanthropist) Norma Cox for a pizza party every year,” said Francoeur.

“We all have so many great memories of family and friends in Tecumseh Park.”