MARGERY JANE COOK SARGEANT

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MARGERY JANE COOK SARGEANT (MARGERY RUTH BEER) On August 23, 2000, Margery Sargeant, beloved wife of Terry Sargeant, died peacefully, surrounded by family, at Victoria General Hospital in Winnipeg. Besides her husband and best friend, Terry, Margery leaves to mourn her passing her sons, Andrew of Vancouver and Ian of Whistler, BC; stepson Darren McBurney of Montreal; mother Elizabeth of Sydney, BC; brother Patrick Cook of Williams Lake, BC, his wife Karen and sons, Kelly and David; sister Jean Cook and Christopher Robertson of Steveston, BC; sister Cathy Cook and Joe Lange of Salt Spring Island, BC; her mother-in-law Mona Sargeant of Gimli; as well as Terrys sisters and their families. She was predeceased by her father, Tom, in December 1997. Margery was born in Ottawa on July 9, 1949. As the daughter of an RCAF officer, she led the nomadic childhood of an "air force brat", living on bases in Rivers, Man.; Clinton, Ont.; Edgar, Ont.; Tyndal, Florida; Brunswick, Maine and back to Rivers. In 1970, she graduated from Brandon University with honours in Economics. That same year, she married Dave Beer, with whom she had her two sons. Margery adored her boys and was always very proud of them, considering them to be her greatest accomplishment. In the mid-70s, Margery was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was told what she had to look forward to was a life of being bedridden. She would have none of that. She got up out of bed, returned to school, attaining a diploma in Creative Communications from Red River Community College. She followed this with considerable professional success. In February 1985, after a game of "Wallyball", Margery went for a beer at the old Union Centre bar. There, she met Terry, who fell in love with her on the spot. They married three years later, in February 1988. They enjoyed fifteen and a half fabulous years together. From Red River, Margery went to work in the office of the Premier of Manitoba. Then, to work for an advertising agency, Stringham and Grant Tandy. Within a couple of years, she was vice-president of that firm. In 1985, she returned to government, first with the Canada-Manitoba Economic Development Office, then as the Director of Communications for the Manitoba Department of Finance. In 1987, she achieved her "dream" job when she became Regional-Director of Marketing and Communication for CBC Manitoba. It was while she was in that position that Margery was featured in a 1989 Macleans magazine feature on women in senior management. In 1990, she followed Terry to Whitehorse, where she became head of communications for the Yukon government. In late 1992, she was "headhunted" by the BC government to be an Executive Director, first with the Government Communications Office and then with the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. By December 1994, her MS had reached a point where she was forced to go on long-term disability. In 1996, she and Terry returned to Winnipeg, when Terry entered Law School at the U of M. Margery was also active in the community. As a young mother, she played an integral part in her boys activities: teaching Sunday School at Trinity United in Fort Richmond; participating in school and community club events. She became the proverbial "hockey mom", getting up at unearthly hours to drive her guys to various hockey rinks around the city and beyond the perimeter. In the 80s, she served a number of years on the Board of Prairie Theatre Exchange, at the crucial time when PTE was moving from its old digs on Princess Street to Portage Place. She rose to the position of Vice-President of the board. For much of her life, she wished she had a different name - she didnt like her middle name, Ruth. Just a few weeks ago she finally did something about it and changed her name legally. She took the first names of her two grandmothers and the surnames of her father and her husband. She was quite pleased about that. Terry would like to express special thanks to Manitoba Home Care for the excellent care they gave Margery over the past two and a half years, especially to Yvonne, her principal caregiver during that period. And a very special thanks to Dr. Karen Boyd, Dr. Dillon and the nurses and staff of Unit 3 at the Vic, for their outstandingly tender care of Margery and her family over the last few days. Margery always liked the idea of wakes. A celebration of her life/wake in her honour will be held on Monday, August 28 at 7:00 p.m., at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, top level. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the MS Society of Canada, 400-141 Bannatyne Ave., Winnipeg R3B 0R3. NEIL BARDAL INC 949-2200

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 26, 2000