Margaret Helena Ernst (nee Marsters) was born August 13, 1925 and died suddenly at home in Nanaimo, B.C. on January 15, 2005.
Margaret was born in Bass River, Nova Scotia, one of three children of Dr. Charles and Dorothy Marsters. She taught school in Mount Pleasant, Wolfville, Londonderry, N.S. for several years and married her sweetheart, Bill, in Bass River on January 24, 1946.
They were mid-20th century B.C. pioneers, moving to the Quesnel area where they raised their brood “out in the bush,” as Margaret fondly liked to recall. While in Quesnel, Margaret sold World Book Encyclopedias and Avon. She also served for ten years as a trustee on the Quesnel school board before moving to Nanaimo in 1989.
She was immensely proud of her family and spent her last years near them on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Margaret loved reading great books and discussing them with anyone who had a few moments. She was an avid reader of newspapers, was keenly interested in current events, enjoyed nothing better than a spirited discussion on just about any topic and relished a nice long and slow game of cribbage or Scrabble almost as much as doing her beloved crosswords.
She is sadly missed by Bill, her husband of 58 years, her six children Bill (Robbie), David (Barbara), Judy (Gary Gelderblom), Holly (Jim) Jack, Ric (Renee Blackstone) and Colin (Kris Ongman), as well as her grandchildren Michael, Danny (predeceased), Colin, Stacy, Stephen, Jamie, Nicole, Gavan, Zach and Lena, as well as her sister Beth (Eric) McDade of Truro, Nova Scotia, her brother Ashley (Charlie) Marsters of Kitchener, Ontario, plus numerous other in-laws, nephews and nieces and four great grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Friday, January 21 at1:00 p.m. at Sands Funeral Chapel, One Newcastle Avenue, Nanaimo, B.C. Donations to the charity of your choice in Margaret’s name are gratefully accepted.