She was 96. Margaret will be greatly missed by her remaining children Ruth, Alastair, and Richard, as well as her daughter-in-laws Roswitha, Shelagh & Zelia, 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Margaret was predeceased by her husband Jack, her sister Catherine, daughter Ann, and sons Peter and Michael.
Born in colonial southern Africa in 1923 to English and Scottish parents, Margaret, a great grand-daughter of the explorer David Livingstone, spent her early childhood in isolated Church of Scotland missions in what are now Malawi and Zambia. There she played barefoot with her beloved younger sister Catherine and the children of the villages. Almost lost to malaria at age 6, having learned 2 of the local dialects, she enjoyed helping her mother (the mission nurse) dispense medicines in the village.
Her father once having cut down a tree next to the mission’s wall to foil a local marauding leopard—she remembered at 5 years old feeling watched from the tall grass during an ill-advised solo stroll outside the walls down to her favourite mango tree. Her father the minister was not pleased. After a childhood so rich in animal life, she remained a great lover of creatures great and small her entire life. The return of the family to Scotland in winter, and then to boarding school when she was just turned 8, was quite a shock to a carefree young girl born in tropical Africa.
After growing up in Scotland in the Hebrides, she became a nurse during WWII, where she met her future husband Jack at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary. Marrying just before the war ended, the couple emigrated from Scotland to Lethbridge in 1951. Margaret made the 3-day journey to the this vast, chilly land on her own, and with a 5, 3, and 1 year-old in hand, in an early propeller airliner, followed by a long train ride to the prairies. She always mentioned how kind her fellow passengers were, and how noisy the plane was!
Margaret and Jack went on to have 3 more children in Calgary, and she was a loving and patient mother to all of them. The family moved to Ottawa in 1967, but following the passing of her husband in 1973, a year later she left the icy Ontario winters behind and moved to Victoria. Finding peace when she retired in 1983 to a new house was greatly helped by the loyal friendship she found there with her new neighbour, Eric Jones, which lasted almost 40 years, and who recently joined her in Assisted Living just a few doors down the hall.
The losses of a stillborn daughter, her beloved husband, her sister, and later three adult children wounded her greatly each time. Yet somehow she found the strength to carry on, displaying her own special kindness to others. Increasing deafness and difficulty walking over the last 15 years did nothing to diminish Margaret's appetite for a good chat, and to listen and offer comfort where needed over a cup of tea.
Her passions in retirement included reading history, nature documentaries, her garden, especially growing wonderfully scented roses, and her many cats, all loved deeply as loyal companions.
Margaret will be laid to rest beside Jack at the Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.
A celebration of life will be held in Victoria at a future date. In lieu of flowers, Margaret requested a donation to your local SPCA.
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