Margaret (« Peggy
») Fenwick Nicholl, née Harding, died at
Fredericton, New Brunswick on August 14, 2018 following complications
resulting from a fractured hip. Predeceased by her husband of nearly
60 years, Dr. Christopher I.H. Nicholl, and by her brother Bill, she
leaves to mourn her five children Lucy (Ron), Sarah, Tina, Kate and
John (Dima) and eight grandchildren Emily, Lucas, Keitha, Emma,
Thomas, Pippa, Charlotte and Christopher, as well as her sister Mary
Keyser (Jim). The eldest daughter of Dr. William D. Harding and Annie
(Nan) Gladys Harding, née Hodge, Peggy was born in Toronto
on February 24, 1926 and spent her early years in Port Credit,
Ontario. She graduated with a B.A. from Queens in 1947, having met her
future husband at the Science 44 Coop, according to family legend
while he was washing dishes and she was mopping the floor. After many
solo adventures, including work with the Hamilton
Children’s’ Aid Society and a cycling tour of
Scotland on a one speed bike, Peggy married Chris in May 1951 and
returned with him to England while he finished his post-doc at
Cambridge. Back in Canada in 1954 with a baby (John) in tow, Peggy and
Chris lived briefly in Ottawa, and then in a great leap of faith (for
two Canadian anglophones whose French was correct but less than
fluent) moved in 1955 to Quebec City, where Chris joined the new
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Laval. By this point Kate had
joined the family, and Tina quickly followed, arriving in Charny
because at the time the family was living on the south shore in
Breakeyville. Another move to our first house in Sillery followed in
1958, and Sarah and Lucy were born at appropriate intervals at Jeffrey
Hale Hospital in Quebec City. Peggy and Chris had discovered, or been
discovered by, the congregation of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity,
and there followed many happy years of choir practices, choir parties,
bell ringing and community at the Cathedral, and lasting friendships.
Peggy was a devoted mother in a manner which is now out of fashion,
and she made it her business to feed, clothe, teach and discipline her
kids while Chris pursued his academic career and brought home the
bacon. Idyllic summers at a house in Charlevoix (Les
Éboulements) and at Camp Kennebec followed winters of cross
country skiing and snow fort building, and while the kids were always
a handful, they now recognize how lucky they were to be her children
there in that time. John, Kate and Tina went off to school in the late
60’s and early 70’s. Chris was appointed Principal
of Bishop’s University in 1975 and Peggy and Chris moved to
Lennoxville with Sarah and Lucy, who were also soon gone. Peggy took
over the role of faculty hostess with aplomb, and there were further
happy years as members of the Bishop’s community, before
they retired to Moulton Hill in 1986. Following family, they moved
again to Gloucester near Ottawa in 1995, and for 15 years were a
magnet for their children and grandchildren and conducted regular
walking expeditions to England and France, including Offa’s
Dyke and Hadrian’s Wall. More changes led to a move to
Fredericton in 2010, and Peggy was again solo following
Chris’ death in 2011. She was still Peggy, however, and with
a lot of support from Kate and many visits from her other children and
grandchildren she was indomitable and close to her family until the
end.
No visitation or service by
request.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Margaret Peggy F Nicholl 19262018..
Décès pour la Ville: Fredericton, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick
