Marion Audrey Dunbar (Kemp)
Marion Audrey (Walton) Dunbar passed away in Medicine Hat on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at the age of 95 years. Left to cherish her memory are her children: Greg (Dorthy) Walton of Brooks; Pam (Ken) Steeves of Medicine Hat; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren and one great great-grandchild; three sisters: Joy Munro (Kelowna), Shirley Christie (Lethbridge) and Gwen (Carlo) Henningsen (Racine, WI).
Mom was born in Calgary, AB on May 28, 1922 and lived in Olds, AB until after she was married. The oldest daughter of Warren and Mable Kemp, she had a very happy small-town childhood and has remained close to her three sisters and their families.
Mom completed her education at the Olds School of Agriculture in 1941. She married her childhood sweetheart, Tom Walton, in 1943. Tom was a naval officer and their first years of marriage were spent apart due to Tom being overseas in WW II. During Tom’s absence, Marion worked for AGT in Olds and then Calgary. After returning from the war, Marion and Tom lived on a farm in Olds where their three children were born; Tim, Greg and Pam.
Due to Tom’s health, the family moved north to High Prairie in 1956 and then Grande Prairie in 1962 for Tom’s work. At the age of 45, mom completed a secretarial course in Grande Prairie; then worked at Eatons, the Credit Bureau, AMA and eventually Alberta Disaster Services. She and Tom loved trailering with the Trumpeter Swan Trailer Club.
Marion’s parents and son, Tim, passed away in 1976; and in 1978, Tom died suddenly.
For many years after that, mom worked and spent weekends camping in her mini motorhome.
In 1990, mom married Sam Dunbar. They spent their years together enjoying the trailer club in the summer and travelling to Yuma in the winter. When Sam could no longer travel south, they spent several winters in Sydney, BC. Sam taught mom to golf and they truly enjoyed their time with friends and family. Sam passed away in 2001.
Mom’s life included three Caribbean cruises, several trips to Alaska, as well as Scotland and Japan. She moved from Grande Prairie to Medicine Hat and loved her new home at Chinook Village.
Marion was an amazing woman who drove her car until she was 90. She was competent on the computer; loved to email friends and could still check her bank account online well into her 90’s. She embraced new technology, always wanting to keep up.
Through all of her life losses, Marion’s strong faith in God gave her strength and in later years she looked forward to being in Heaven. Her love of family was paramount and although after breaking her hip in 2017, life became more difficult, mom never complained. Even towards the end of her life, she had a happy countenance and accepted gracefully her failing health.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Marion Audrey Dunbar Kemp 1922 2018.source
Death notice for the town of: Medicine-Hat, Province: Alberta