Margaret was born February 5, 1933, the second eldest of 6 children (5 girls and 1 boy) of George Vincent and Doris May Lees. The Lees family lived in the Midlands near Birmingham, England. Margaret’s father was Catholic, and her mother was Anglican. The children were brought up in the Catholic Church.
Margaret’s father worked on the family farm, a small holding where he kept six cows and chickens. During W.W.ll food was rationed and farmers were allowed to kill one pig a week so each took a turn and subsequently took the meat around to the other farm families so there was always some meat for everyone. Margaret’s siblings liked working on the farm, but Margaret did not. Margaret was 8 when she joined the war-time Red Cross Cadets. She learned about bandaging, etc. there. They were given a cap with a red cross on it, a forecasting of her professional career as a nurse. Margaret had an aunt who lived in Windsor, Ont. and who would ship canned meats to the family during the war years.
Margaret went to elementary school in the village of Barton-under-Needwood; then she won a scholarship to attend the Burton-on-Trent high school 10 miles away on the bus. The children sat 5 to a seat, 2 others sat on the laps of these 5 and on top of them sat one more child! It was an all-girls high school. Margaret liked English and History best. Margaret was very musical, like her mother. She developed an appreciation for classical music after being taken by her mother to a concert in Burton.
After High School, Margaret took a two-year child-care course in Hagley, on the other side of Birmingham. At the age of 17, she ended up looking after six children, all under the age of 6. In Hagley, she lived in the nurses’ residence. The Canadians would send clothing to England during the war including dresses made of wool which with repeated washings became heavy as lead! Many things were rationed including clothing, sugar and butter, which continued to be tightly rationed until 1953.
Next Margaret spent four years at the new (as of 1938) Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. Three of these years were for her RN training and the other year she was the staff nurse. The last year was most enjoyable because there were no courses to take. The Birmingham University was next door and so the nurses and medical students used to do Christmas pantomimes which was a parody of the senior medical staff.
Margaret then took a year’s training in midwifery: this was divided into a period of training in the maternity hospital and then three months doing home deliveries with a mentor. Margaret remembers one rainy day when she hurried into a home to deliver a baby who came in such a rush that he ended up getting wet with the rain from Margaret’s hat as she hadn’t had time to remove it.
At this point, Margaret went to London for a six- month course on the care of premature babies. Tube feeding the babies in the very humid rooms which were needed for these premature babies was extremely taxing during the night. All the work was very labour intensive. Margaret then took a two- year course in pediatrics at the Sick Children’s Hospital in London: during this time Prince Charles was brought in to have his tonsils removed and Margaret saw the Queen and Prince Philip.
Upon completion of her education, Margaret thought initially of moving to New Zealand where her brother, Peter, was living, but the cost was prohibitive. Instead, she came to Windsor, Ont., Canada where she worked for 18 months. She worked steady night shifts as this meant she could still have a social life during the day.
In 1963 Margaret moved to BC and a job in Blue River on Hwy. 5 north of Kamloops. Margaret was the only medical help in town so she had to deal with whatever came her way. She would talk to the doctor in Kamloops and, when needed, she would have to escort patients to Kamloops on the train. Riding in the caboose made it a long and uncomfortable trip! While Margaret was in Blue River, she had to do the children’s immunizations and this was when she decided to go into Public Health. After working at the Merritt Hospital for 18 months, she had saved enough money to go to UBC to take the one-year Public Health course. After finishing her course, she took a position here in Trail. It was 1965 and she planned to stay here for two years working as the Fruitvale school nurse. This was where she met Peter who was a grade 8 teacher there. They married in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, July 1, 1967 and lived in Warfield all their married life. Peter was born in Westbank and raised in New Denver. He died in January 2009. Margaret hired a small plane to spread Peter’s ashes on Mt. Idaho.
Margaret started attending the Anglican Church here around 1970; Bob Purdy was the priest at the time. Margaret was on the church committee and then she became the music librarian for several years until the stairs were too much for her. Margaret was also in the choir at this time. Margaret tells of how D. Ybema was on the church committee and used to drive Margaret to the meetings. She remembers him as a good treasurer.
Margaret and Peter loved camping in the summer in Alberta and B.C. and sometimes they would be the only people in the camp site. After the first year of camping, they purchased a truck and Peter outfitted the back of it so they could sleep there. They continued to enjoy camping until Peter’s health started to fail. Margaret moved to Chateau Manor November 2009.
Margaret passed away peacefully on September 14, 2021 in Trail. A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 1:00pm at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Trail, BC. Gwen Ziprick of Alternatives Funeral and Cremation services has been entrusted with the arrangements.
You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Margaret Sylvia Browne September 14th 2021..
Décès pour la Ville: Trail, Province: Colombie britanique