After spending the holiday Monday with both family and friends, Mona passed suddenly, yet peacefully, into the arms of Jesus at 10:08 PM at Langley Hospital with family members by her side.
She was predeceased by her parents, Thomas and Greta Laird and her husbands, George Campbell and David Chesney. She leaves to mourn: her brother Tom (Shelia) Laird their family. Her sister-in-law, Marion Gibbons. Her children, David (Lael) Campbell, Ruth (John) Gallinger, Elizabeth (David) Busch and Lois (James) Williamson. Her grandchildren: Douglas (Grace), Hilary and Gregory; Amber and Kayla; Matthew (Natalie), Brianna and Brenden; Laird and Kesson. Her great-grandchildren, Maverick, Kylan and Barrett. And an extended family that deeply cared for her.
Mona was born in Langholm, Scotland and grew up through the hardships of WW2, often without her father who was in the Services. Her love of people was evidenced early in life in her choice of nursing and teaching as a career. She studied nursing in Dumfries, Scotland. On the Easter Sunday of 1955, in her senior year she attended a Billy Graham Association event at Greyfriars’s Church. After listening intently to the message delivered that night, she chose to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and to follow him. That decision set the course for the rest of her life. She served as a midwife in Glasgow’s slums, studied tropical medicine in London with the view to overseas medical missions, taught nursing and ultimately responded to the need for a nurse at a cottage hospital in Markland, Newfoundland. Responding to the call for a relief nurse in Forteau Labrador, she went and met a young preacher named George Campbell…
They married in Lance au Loup, Labrador in 1961 and by 1969 George and Mona moved to Corner Brook, Newfoundland with their four children. In 1984 they moved across the country to Richmond, British Columbia. George passed away in 1985 and in 1988 she married David Chesney and settled in Langley with him and remained there after his passing in 2011.
Her life was too full to do it justice in a few paragraphs. So maybe it is best summarized in her passions. Her faith. The people, like you, who intersected her life. Labrador. Zambians who received the containers she helped fill. Skip-bo. Scotland. Grandchildren. Residents at Hilltop. Buttered toast with jam. Breaking Bread at Langley Gospel Hall. Did we say Labrador? Family History. New Canadians. Anyone that was important to YOU. Great-grandchildren. Letter writing. Scrabble. Her children. Knitting you a sweater. The daily news. Thank-you cards. Keeping a visitors parking tag on your car. Telephone calls on your special day. Truly a most inspiring woman!
If friends so desire, memorial donations can be made to:
Lighthouse Harbour Ministries, #1-260 Esplanade, North Vancouver BC V7L 1A3
“Well done…good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Margaret Monica Chesney May 21st 2018.source
Death notice for the town of: Aldergrove, Province: Colombie britanique
prayers for the family