Margaret was born in Victoria, British Columbia on March 14, 1950 to a family with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. She graduated high school at Mt. Doug about 1968. She married her first husband Jim Dobbyn in 1970, then remarried in 1977 to Reg Geary, before finally meeting Everet Siemens in 1985 and marrying him in 1995.
She spent her working life in a variety of self employment activities and jobs, including, but not limited to: working in a care home, running a camp on the west coast of Vancouver Island processing roofing shakes and shingles, working at a dairy farm, then running her own small livestock farm with cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys, she dabbled in property management, was a cook, and spent her last years before retirement in her favourite job which was simply bringing joy and happiness to people’s days at the Dawson Creek Walmart Guest Services desk. Margaret loved making people smile.
Everyone who knew Margaret also knew that she was an avid dog lover who often had a herd of small dogs at her feet as she wandered her property until her Parkinson’s diagnosis impacted her health and physical abilities. Her favourite hobby over the years was treasure hunting: thrift shops, garage sales, and buying storage lockers, then summer days parked in her yard with her own garage sale, chatting and meeting and greeting everyone who pulled in the yard to look at what she had discovered. Later in life she took great pleasure in learning to paint and enjoyed trying to capture the essence of the many birds that frequented their yard. Margaret will be best remembered for her open heart and open door. It did not matter who you were: family, friend, or stranger, she made you feel welcome instantly. She welcomed everyone into her home and always had a full freezer with which to feed her guests, whether they were there for hours or days.
Margaret is survived by her husband Everet (after 36 years together); her children Lisa Bandstra (Ed), Barbara Dobbyn (Stathi), Kristin Geary, and Peter Geary (Weng); her grandchildren Amanda (Taylor), Sara, Jared, Omar, Kasen, Nixon, Faith, Stathi, Stavros, Vasilis (Kim), Jason, Amber and Kimberley; Her sisters Frances (Wayne) and Marion; her Aunt Mary Rose, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Winifred Esther and Charles Ivan Wightman, her oldest brother Clifford (and his wife Iona) and her beloved brother Patrick who she spoke of often.
The family would like to express their thanks to both the staff at Dufferin Place for making her last few months comfortable and to the ER, HAU, and Palliative Doctors, Nurses, and staff at NRGH for the compassionate and empathetic care they provided during her final day.
A small family gathering will be held in Victoria at Mt. Doug Beach on Saturday, September 25, 2021.
If desired, friends may make a memorial donation to the Parkinson’s Society in Margaret’s name.
Final words our mom lived by and spoke almost daily “God grant me the serenity to ACCEPT the things I cannot change, COURAGE to change what I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.”
And an inside joke for her alone to understand “We will think of you every time Mr. Smith comes to visit”. And with that last parting we know that in heaven she will laugh until she cries with happiness knowing how much she was loved.
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