Margaret Cameron

Margaret Anne Jean Cameron -  We are sad to announce the passing of beloved Margaret Cameron (née MacFarlane). Margaret was born in Cobalt, Ontario on December 10, 1939 and grew up in the Northern Ontario towns of Temagami and North Bay. The third youngest of eight children, she had to be feisty. Her elder brothers always remembered young Margaret putting on her red-rubber boots (which she claimed gave her super-powers) to keep them in line. 

Margaret was the love of her husband, David Cameron. They met at a United Church summer workcamp in Toronto in 1960, where Margaret loaned David money for bus fare after he spent his wages on beer and cigarettes. They were engaged at the end of that summer in Annapolis Royal, N.S. and married on August 26, 1961, after a year of long-distance love and daily letter-writing. 

Margaret was a lifelong teacher and champion of children’s literacy. After completing her BA at the University of Toronto (1961), she taught at high schools in Kingston, Toronto, and Brampton. Margaret then paused her professional teaching career when she and David moved to Halifax and started a family with the birth of their son John in 1969. Margaret started teaching again in 1978, but this time with a focus on literacy development in young children. At Rockingstone Heights Elementary School in Spryfield, she was known as “the reading teacher” and spent countless hours reading with children and nurturing them to write stories as a way to foster self-confidence.

Alongside her teaching career, she completed her Bachelor of Education (Dalhousie, 1976), Master of Education (Dalhousie, 1978) and PhD in Curriculum Development (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1994), and she taught in the education programs at Dalhousie and Mount Saint Vincent Universities.. Margaret continued to teach and serve in administrative roles at Grosvenor Wentworth and C.A. Beckett schools until she retired in 2005. She then continued to promote literacy as a volunteer with the Halifax North Branch Library. She was also an active member of the Dalhousie Alumni Association and the Canadian Federation of University Women. 

Margaret loved to swim through the early morning mist on an open lake, often with her bathing suit somehow left behind on the shore. She also loved to read and walk and dance and to make gourmet meals for family and friends, accompanied by a glass of chardonnay. 

Margaret lived with dementia in her final years but was always quick to say “I love you” to her family. She leaves behind her husband David; son John; daughter-in-law Susan; granddaughters Fiona and Maggie (and partner Colin), and dog, Winston.

Many thanks to the staff at the Parkland on the Gardens and Paramed who provided wonderful care for Margaret over the last few years. 

DONATIONS

In lieu of flowers and in honour of Margaret’s lifelong promotion of literacy, donations in Margaret’s memory may be made to the Halifax North Memorial Library .