“The brightest stars burn the fastest, so we must love them while we can. Some souls shine so brilliantly that their presence feels like a gift—a fleeting miracle that lights up the world around them. They love deeply, give selflessly, and leave imprints on our hearts that time can never erase.”

Amy Lissa was one of those rare lights.

Amy was born July 22,1976 to Jean Marie (MacNeil) and David Roy Mackay. She was raised in Springville with her siblings Sacha, Erin (Mike) and Ian (Tori). She loved and was loved by her nieces and nephews: Carlie, Kira (and their father Ralph), Katie, Josh, Sarah, Cooper, David and Maggie. She was the granddaughter of Ann and Ian Mackay, Loretta and Joseph MacNeil.

She was also loved by aunts and uncles, Harvey (Jessie), Brice (Heather), David, Jenny (Kendall), Father Paul, Sandy (Judy), Frank, Jack (Agnes), JoAnn (Paul), Dana (Peter), Colin (Brie), Lilla (Bruce), Cheryl and Nancy, many cousins and close friends.

She loved animals. Especially dogs and her Talaa was the best.

Amy attended East Pictou Rural High, Mount St. Vincent University and The Atlantic Police Academy.

She was an officer with HRP from 2001-2024 as a patrol officer, community response officer, and with the Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team. She did a UN mission to South Sudan, was part of the Public Safety Unit, and Detective with Criminal Investigations, Sexual Assault, and Fraud. She was proud of her work as a volunteer peer referral agent with the EFAP program for most of her career.

She was recognized with numerous prestigious awards for her community, volunteer and police work.

After finishing with the police in 2024, she returned to school at Eastern College for her CCA certificate and then worked with VON.

Amy lived a life of love and purpose. She was kind and giving to a fault. She made everyone feel important. She was intelligent, hilarious and loved to tease. She loved hard and accomplished so much. She was a beautiful human. Despite this, she struggled to recognize her own incredible value and the impact she had on countless lives. She truly made the world a better, brighter place and we feel lost without her.

We welcome family, friends and colleagues to join us in celebrating Amy Lissa’s life Monday, May 18th at Summer Street Industries (72 Park St, New Glasgow) from 2-4pm. Words of remembrance will be shared at 2pm followed by refreshments and time to visit and share memories.

Donations may be made to:

https://mentalhealthns.ca/donate-online/

https://bfocb.ca/

https://www.novascotiaspca.ca/how-you-can-help/make-a-gift/

If anyone has any words they would like to share that could be read at her Celebration of Life, please forward to erinmackaydeagle@gmail.com.