MARGARET PATRICIA HARRIS JAMIESON

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MARGARET PATRICIA HARRIS JAMIESON Born at Union Bay February 23, 1923, Margaret passed away at 12:20 a.m. on February 8, 2007. Margaret was educated at St. Ann's Academy in Victoria. Her parents, Patrick and Ethel Harris, moved to the city so that she and her older brother Frank could receive a Catholic education which formed a permanent values legacy in their lives and the lives of their children. Margaret married James Easton Jamieson in 1942, a career soldier who retired to Victoria with Margaret in 1977 after their six children had flown the nest. Margaret and Jim were very active with refugee sponsorship work since 1979. Margaret was very proud of their children and their accomplishments but as she expressed in 1992 at the couple's 50th wedding anniversary party, she was most happy because her children all liked each other. This theme of balance and compatibility characterized her deepest aspirations, that her children be happy and fulfilled, no matter what their lines of pursuit. Her eldest daughter Rita owns the Royal Dance at the Forks in Winnipeg, a tiny dance school she founded over 30 years ago that is now one of the largest of its kind in Western Canada. Her other daughter, Christine teaches Christian ethics in the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. James Jr., the eldest son is a retired Army colonel and a career social worker with the military. He currently works with post-traumatic stress treatment with the medical services branch of the Canadian military. Tony, her fifth child, is a Partnership Executive for IBM Canada in Winnipeg. Eugene, the youngest, specialized in Labour Law and now serves in the office of the Chief provincial Judge for British Columbia in Vancouver. The only child to reside in Victoria, since 1986, Patrick is a writer and published author, founding with Jim and Margaret, Island Catholic News in 1987. Margaret was the proud grandmother of 10 grandchildren Patty, Rachel, Sarah, Hannah, Martha, Eden, Sean, Sam, Ella and Gabriel and one great grandchild, Jamie. Margaret was extremely personable and hospitable with an enormous capacity to enjoy life. She had a sharp mind and held strong opinions on social matters and moral issues which she ably defended but was always open to the ideas of others, even her children who claimed to have formed her education during the second half of her life. She was an information seeker, listening avidly to CBC Radio and reading the newspaper daily. While she had a deep respect for authority this was balanced by a sensible and informed sense of her own self-worth and the value of her own opinions lending her children a bias toward the critical edge of knowledge. Margaret worked for many years at Eaton's Personnel Department in Chilliwack and Winnipeg and worked for 10 years in Victoria for the B.C. Ferry Corporation. Prayers and a memorial service will be held at St. Joseph's Friary, 1076 Joan Crescent on Sunday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. and a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Blanshard at View Streets on Monday, February 12 at 1:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Saint Andrews Refugee Association or the Victoria Hospice. Jim Jamieson and his children wish to express their gratitude to Dr. Barbara Roback and to the staff of the Victoria Hospice for assisting Margaret in taking her leave in a dignified and humane manner which is exactly how she lived her life.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 11, 2007