Margareth Katharine Maier

Born in the Municipality of Morris, Manitoba, she was the fourth of ten children growing up in the David Penner family three miles from Lowe Farm. She was the first child of David's second wife, Mary Peters.

Margaret received her elementary education in the Heabert country school 1- ¼ miles from home; her high school education in Steinbach (she taught for one year before completing Grade 12). After high school graduation she taught two more years on Permit followed by a year at Manitoba Teachers' College and then began a teaching career which totaled 25 years.

In 1939 Margaret started out with 55 students at Lister West School, near Grunthal. In 1960, a teacher at Lord Kitchener School, North Kildonan, she left teaching to marry Edward Maier, a resident of Port Arthur, Ontario.

Their marriage took place on September 24, 1960 in the Greenwood United Church in Winnipeg. In Port Arthur (which with three other communities was named Thunder Bay in 1970) they became adherents of Trinity United Church. They raised their son, David and adopted daughter, Cathy in the Trinity community. Edward at the time was involved with his brother Fred in a hardware business known as Maier Hardware.

In 1966 they purchased a 5-acre country lot inside the city limits, and Ed with all his expert carpentry, electrical, plumbing and heating, and bricklaying skills built a lovely home.

After ten years of raising a family and being a homemaker, Margaret was a supply teacher in Thunder Bay. As well, in 1982, she graduated from Lakehead University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. The last four years before retirement, she taught in the small town of Armstrong, Ontario. Upon retirement she became a member of the Superannuated Teachers of Ontario.

Edward had retired from his 17-year job as Superintendent of Building Maintenance at Lakehead University. They had four years of retirement together before Ed died, during which time they traveled and enjoyed their beautiful 5-acre landscaped property. Edward died on December 7, 1988. In July 1990, 1 - ½ years after Edward's death, Margaret moved to Winnipeg.

Margaret is survived by son, David (Deborah), and granddaughter, Cleo; daughter Cathy (Loren Ford, later Renee Girolami), and grandson Anthony (Tony) Ford (Genevieve), granddaughters: Samantha Braun (Steve); Eva Girolami, St. Catharines; and Anna Girolami (Luke). David, Tony, Anna and Samantha live in Calgary. Sister Elma Warkentin lives in Winnipeg; and Robert (Gladys) lives in Stoney Plain, AB. Margaret has many nieces and nephews in Canada and the U.S. She is also survived by eight greatgrandchildren.

Margaret moved back to Winnipeg to be with her relatives. In Margaret's plans to return to Winnipeg was the promise to herself to try out varieties of new activities and stay with them as long as they were enjoyed. For many years she danced with square, round, pattern and line dance clubs. For some years she was a reporter to the monthly Manitoba Manisquare magazine and she was Historian for the local club. Her activist activities included the Council of Canadians, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, World Federalists, Project Peacemakers and Peace Alliance. She was an active member of the United Nations and a busy gardener at her residences and Victoria Beach. She wrote letters to papers and politicians, and made presentations regarding deep-felt concerns to make a better world.

Throughout this period Margaret travelled often, visiting the Caribbean, Australia, Japan (including Hiroshima) and Belize.

Margaret met Cecil Muldrew, a member of Veteran Against Nuclear Arms (VANA) in 1991. With Cec's devotion to abolish nuclear weapons, to end all wars and work for a better world, Margaret joined many other concerned organizations in the next six years. They had many interests in common.

Margaret married Cecil on September 28, 2002 in the large front room of the Unitarian House at 603 Wellington Crescent with the Unitarian Minister officiating. Close relatives of both families attended. It was a beautiful day and joyful for both of them. In search of a bigger and more comfortable residence in almost a year, they moved from their close quarters at 1899 St. Mary's Rd. to 395 Beaverhill Blvd. Agape Villa had spacious, light and airy rooms with lots of windows and pleasantly landscaped lawns. Many meetings were held in their large living room.

Cec had congestive heart failure the spring prior to their wedding, and the doctor strongly advised Cec to move to the city to be near medical help. Margaret helped him back to better health, but the long-term prognosis of heart and kidneys was not good. After much discussion they decided to get married, but Margaret would keep her last name to save a lot of official paper work. Cec got his fourth pacemaker - a new model - the next summer because the life of the old one had expired. It did not seem to improve his health.

Margaret was happy to be in good health and drove with Cec to appointments, meetings, short trips and Victoria Beach to Cec's winterized cabin. It always proved a pleasant outing and there were always many things to do. There was also Cec's Millennium Fruit Tree Project for the town of Victoria Beach. Cec planted, with organized help, two hundred fruit trees - apples, cherries, saskatoons and high bush cranberries in 2000.

There was a small garden behind the house to look after, a lawn to mow, watch Cec sort out old snap shots and help organize them into albums. Going to the beach, the dock, the ice cream restaurant, visiting Betty or Larry and their families, Fraser and Marion, or Joanne and Milton at Thanksgiving were other happenings.

Cec died on September 6, 2004, less than 2 years after they were married. Margaret continued with many of the same activities as before, although she began to suffer from hearing loss which made it difficult for her to participate in meetings. She eventually became an active user of email to communicate her political concerns.

Margaret continued to enjoy travelling and arranged family trips to the Baltic countries, Alaska, the Galapagos, Peru (including Machu Picchu), Newfoundland and Churchill.

In November 2015 Margaret tripped while visiting her doctor’s office and broke her shoulder in the fall. She spent several months recuperating at Deer Lodge, and was told that when she left the hospital, she would need to move into a Personal Care Home. Margaret did not want to give up her independence; when she discovered that Alberta had a Supportive Living option that would let her live in a suite with her own furniture, she decided to move to Calgary. She moved to the McKenzie Towne Retirement Residence in April 2016.

In July 2016 Margaret was sent to the South Health Campus (a large hospital on the southern outskirts of Calgary). She was initially treated for pneumonia, but gradually succumbed to delirium. She died peacefully on Thursday, August 4, 2016.