Obituary for
Margaret Joan Elsey Hamilton (Bowman)
Hamilton, Margaret (Peggy) Joan Elsey (nee Bowman) ARCA:
Died peacefully in her 99th year. She was born in Maidstone, Kent, England, the only child of Frank Hammond Bowman and Florence Haylock. She is survived by her daughters Gayle and Linda (Eric) and her grandchildren, Trevor and Tyler (Jordan) Haigh and her great-granddaughter, Wynter. She is predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Gordon Turner Hamilton.
She was the most remarkable and capable woman who accomplished much in her long, healthy life. She went to the Maidstone College of Art and then was accepted into the most prestigious art college in the United Kingdom, the Royal College of Art. She attended the RCA during the war years while it was evacuated to Ambleside, in Cumbria and was one of the ‘Bohemians in Exile”. She graduated from the School of Design in 1943 and then taught at the Derby Teacher Training College and then Canterbury College of Art. While at Ambleside she met her husband who was in the Royal Canadian Engineers and she immigrated to Pembroke, Canada in 1948.
In Pembroke, she succeeded in all she turned her hand to. She started Hartog Kennels and raised and showed purebred dogs of several breeds, although German Shepherds were her first love. She was an excellent gardener and instilled a love of gardening in both of her daughters. She could quite frankly do anything she put her mind to, be it electrical wiring, plumbing, carpentry or of course, dress designing and sewing. She could do any craft that she tried and did it with exceptional quality. Whenever we needed to know how to do anything we could always ask Mum and she would always know the answer. Her biggest gift to us, her daughters, was instilling us with the belief and knowledge that we could successfully accomplish anything we tried.
Peggy moved to Kitchener in the summer of 2001 and the next 17 years were packed full of gallivanting and adventures with her youngest daughter, Gayle. Mum was one of those special friends that she could call at 7:30 in the morning and say “do you want to….” and her answer was always “Could I change my clothes first?” Mum was absolutely never, ever, ever in a bad mood! She was always full of great advice, which we mostly listened too, and was ready for an afternoon of debating over a cup of coffee……or ginger wine!! Mum was healthy, had all her wits and lived on her own until the end of March.
We would like to thank the nurses, care partners and the palliative care doctors on the 7th floor at St Mary’s Hospital for their extremely compassionate care during the last few weeks of her life and for allowing such a peaceful passage. We are forever in your debt. Cremation has occurred and there will be no service at her request. Please raise a toast to her wonderful, long life, and hug your Mum.
Arrangements entrusted to the Henry Walser Funeral Home, Kitchener.
Visit www.henrywalser.com for Margaret’s memorial.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Margaret Joan Elsey Hamilton Bowman 1920 2018.source
Death notice for the town of: Kitchener, Province: Ontario