MARGARET (PEG) TOAL (HANNA)

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MARGARET (PEG) TOAL (nee HANNA) On May 13, 2014, Margaret (Peg) Toal passed away peacefully at Holy Family Home after a bloody hard slog with Dementia. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Robert (Bob) Toal, her daughter Alison Kornelsen (Wilf), son Ian Toal (Barb Eastveld). She also has four grandchildren, Jarett, Sean, Brendan and Andrew, and one and a half great-grandchildren - Nolan, and an arrival expected this October. She is also survived by her second family for the past six years, the staff at Holy Family who provided outstanding care for her. Peg was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1926. She graduated secondary school with honours, and studied at Pitmans Shorthand Institute. She proudly received her certificate with credit from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. During the Second World War, Peg worked in the Short Bros. and Harland aircraft factory as a stock clerk. She also survived the bombing raids on that city, an experience that caused her to oppose the use of bombs as a method of fighting. In 1946 she met Bob in a chance encounter. He walked her home, proposed to her later on the Cave Hill at a five bar gate, and they were married in 1949. In 1960, Peg and Bob, along with newborn Alison and two year old Ian, packed up their belongings in an old kit bag and moved, somewhat improbably, to Winnipeg where they knew a distant relative (Dez and Sally Hill). After a year or two of living in an apartment on Watt Street the family bought a house on Somerville Avenue, where they stayed for the next 17 years. Homesick, Peg returned to Belfast for a visit in 1968. That visit made up her mind, and she remained in Canada, eventually living in Calgary, Oakbank and finally Windsor Park. Peg was a dedicated mother, and a planter of trees. All the homes she has lived in are populated with trees she "bunged" into the earth. She was a voracious reader, and introduced her children to the Winnipeg Public Library at a very early age. She read until dementia took that away. A great walker, she also walked until she was unable to do so. Peg was an artist who worked with wool on fabric, and painting on china. She had a kiln in the basement, which required her son to install a powerful fume extraction fan. Peg loved animals, graciously allowing a menagerie of guinea pigs, gerbils, fish and snakes to share the home. Eventually she got a dog, and she was never without one after that. Peg was an ordinary person who was none-the-less full of surprises and willing to try new things. Even her illness could not be accurately diagnosed, and she exceeded all expectations after it took hold. She was loved. She will be missed. Any donations in her name should be made to the Humane Society, or to Holy Family Home.

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 17, 2014