On Sunday, July 4th, our family experienced the ending of an era, as our Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother, Margaret Barg passed away peacefully at 100 years young. She passed away in the same manner she lived – on her own terms, bravely facing whatever comes next and with not a doubt in her mind about the course she had chosen.
Margaret was born October 10, 1920, in her family’s log home on their homestead in Manitoba’s Interlake to Fredrick and Dora Lawton and spent her early years on the family’s homesteads in the Eriksdale district. A highlight for her was attending Tennyson school, only a “short five mile” round trip walk from the farm. She especially enjoyed anything involving expressive speaking, such as school plays, annual Christmas concerts and poetry readings, and could still quote whole poems she had learnt as a schoolgirl.
Margaret moved to Winnipeg in 1945 and worked at various jobs but especially enjoyed work at Deer Lodge Veteran’s Hospital. Mom met Dad, Abram Barg at a dance social and they were married in October 1949. Together they raised three active boys, Walter, Carl, and Phillip, in the Deer Lodge area of St. James and lived on Albany Street for 50 years. Mom stayed home to raise the family which included lots of sports, camping and travelling.
In later years she undertook activities such as volunteering at Deer Lodge Center, completing her high school education by correspondence, being active in the Presbyterian Church and helping her sons and their expanding families. One area she was ardently interested in was education, setting up through the Winnipeg Foundation, the “Margaret and Abe Barg Scholarship” which is awarded every year to a graduating student at Sisler High School.
Mom was predeceased by her beloved husband Abram of fifty-one years; her parents, Fred and Dora Lawton; and sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Wilf Plante. Margaret is survived by her three sons, Walter (Madeleine) of Gimli, MB; Carl (Anne) of Calgary, AB and Philip (Shirley) of Edmonton, AB; grandchildren, Matthew (Cassie), Lindsay (Gregg), Graham, Jamie (Trevor), Kevin (Lesley), Kyle, Monica (Bob) and Kristy; 9 great-grandchildren, as well as several nieces and nephews.
Mom was always well treated by the health care staff at the Grace General Hospital, Metropolitan Kiwanis Courts and Revera Poseidon Long term Care Home and her family is grateful for their kind and considerate care.
Cremation has taken place and a Celebration of her life will be held at Thomson "In The Park" Funeral Home, on Friday, October 8, 2021 at 2:00pm, with a small reception to follow. For those of you who cannot attend, please join us through our livestream https://youtu.be/ZviUItnTPk4
In lieu of flowers, if friends so wish, donations may be made in Margaret’s memory to the Grace General Hospital Foundation or a charity of their choice.
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The following two poems express her final sentiments:
“When I come to the end of the road,
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in the gloom-filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not too long
And not with your head bowed low,
Remember how I loved you all,
Miss me, but let me go.
For this is a journey we must all make,
And I must go alone,
It’s part of the master’s plan,
A step on the road to home.
So when you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends you know,
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds,
Miss me – But let me go.”
“Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not dead, I am asleep.”
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