Marjorie Stephenson

Our dear mother, Marjorie Frances Stephenson, passed away at Cerderwood Village in Simcoe, Ontario on October 28, 2017 at the age of 97 years. Family members were there by her side when she passed away.

She is survived by her four children, Alexander William George Stephenson, David Anthony Stephenson, William Michael Stephenson, and Jacqueline Frances Jane Stephenson. She was married to our father, William Frederick Stephenson, who predeceased her.

She is also survived by her sister, Yvonne Elizabeth Hands (nee Davies), or “Betty” as she is better known as. Her other sisters, Eileen Joy Burnell (nee Davies), better known as “Tottie,” Margaret Sawyer (nee Davis), and Mary Davies, as well as her brother George Davies, all predeceased her.

Our mother was born in Melbourne, Australia, although she lived most of her childhood and young adulthood in England. Her parents, Herman George Tankersley Davies, better known as “George Davies,” and Eileen Frances Elizabeth Davies (nee Goldberg), and her four siblings resided in Windsor, England. Just after the War our mother moved to Canada where she married our father in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They eventually moved to Toronto, Ontario.

The Davies family lived happily at Down Place in Windsor, England for many years. It was a beautiful, iconic early eighteenth century manor house located on the Thames River.

George Davis, her father, was a very successful businessman and advertising consultant to the Australian company, Aspro (eventually called Aspro Limited in Britain). In the book, Aspro How a Family Business Grew Up by Alexander Barrie and Robert Grenville Smith, they describe George Davies as “a brilliant, hard-sell advertising man whose exuberance established Aspro as a brand leader.” Unfortunately, his brash, larger than life personality engendered a passion for gambling, horse racing, and cards.

The ebullient Davies…spent much time experimenting with a roulette wheel

which he kept in his office and which he was sure would lead him to discover

an infallible winning system.

This brash, pugnacious, innovative, and extraordinary man who was our grandfather, doubtless would have influenced our mother, who was quite extraordinary in her own right.

She was, largely, an unpublished author, although her historical novel about assisted passage for English immigrants coming to Canada, called The Drew Scheme or The Advice-Receiver A Memoir-Novella of the Nineteen-Forties, was published in 1992. She also wrote numerous short stories, plays, novellas, and children’s stories.

She was a fervent Monarchist who wrote for Monarchy Canada magazine and was the Books and Arts Editor for many years. She received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, which she was especially proud of.

Her passion for writing may have only been exceeded by her love for Bridge. She was an avid and formidable Bridge player who played in many Bridge tournaments at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, which she was a member for over 60 years. We have, in fact, many fond memories of mum taking us to the “Club” when we were children.

She enrolled us in figure skating lessons, tennis lessons, and many other activities, and afterwards we’d always have something to eat. Special occasions were undoubtedly given their distinction by her pronouncement that we would be celebrating the occasion with an afternoon lunch at the Club, or by insisting everyone put on their best suits and dresses for a refined and elegant dining experience on more formal occasions.

Like her father, she could be forceful, rather than persuasive, and headstrong. But, as a very good friend once remarked:

Marjorie was such an extraordinary person, no one who knew her will ever

forget her. I know that aspect had its down side as well as the positive, but who

would have missed the privilege of being acquainted with her?

This insightful remark seems so reminiscent of her father. They were both gregarious, flamboyant, and irascible, but they had an indomitable spirit and were absolute originals. She was very much her father’s daughter.

And just as we, her children, will forever be a part of her, her indomitable spirit will always be a part of us.

God bless you, mum. We miss you.