Marjorie Lillian Rose Fenske

It is with great sorrow and overwhelming heartbreak that our family announces the peaceful passing of “Marj” Fenske on October 29, 2025, at the age of 92 years young. Marjorie Lillian Rose Fenske was born in Edmonton Alberta on February 26, 1933, to Gordon and Elsie Smith. Marj grew up in Edmonton, where she married Doug Whan in 1952. They had five children, Terry, Larry, Shelley, Lynn, and Patti. In 1959 the family relocated to Calgary and in 1980 Marj and her daughter, Patti, moved to Vancouver Island to live in Nanaimo British Columbia. Marj was a vibrant, athletic, beautiful human being who loved entertaining, dancing, and competitive sports. She always had a good joke to tell and enjoyed singing at the karaoke bar. Marj also loved to travel and combined a lot of her trips abroad with the sports she so excelled at. She was an elite Curler, Lawn bowler, Golfer and spent many a day hiking the mountains and trails surrounding Nanaimo. She was the most wonderful, caring, loving and supportive mother, and is survived by her five children. Terry Whan (Tammy) Larry Whan, Shelley Hellevang, Lynn Whitney, Patti Whan, her four grandchildren, James Whan (Sydney) Jessi Whan (Calen), Kenisha Whitney(Angel), and Cicily Whan-Sharpe (Michael), her two great grandsons Sterling and Roman Pierce, her siblings, Sylvia Helt, Evelyn Bouschard, Doreen Smith, Niel Smith (Heather) She was preceded in death by her first husband Doug Whan, her sister Joyce Perrin, her granddaughter Gillian Pierce and the love of her life; her “sweetheart” Ralph Hook. We will celebrate her remarkable life at South Calgary Funeral Centre and Crematorium on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 1 PM.

Her passing is a tragic loss, and she will be deeply missed.