MARGARET CHRISTINE CHORNOUS (PEGGY)

Adjust Text Size: A+ A-

MARGARET CHRISTINE CHORNOUS
December 19, 1930 – December 12, 2022

After a brief illness and the long sunset of dementia, Peggy passed away on December 12, 2022.
She leaves her three children, Bill (Silvana), Dan (Brenda), Patti (Ken Thorlakson) and seven grandchildren: Oliver, Willie, Abby, Gwyneth, Riley, Caitlin and Gareth. She was predeceased by her husband, Edward, in 2006 following a loving and supportive 50-year marriage that served as a model for us all.
Peggy was born in 1930 in The Pas, Manitoba to Donald and Patricia (Phillips) Macdonald. Moving with the opening of mines in the north, the family, grown to include her sisters, Frances (born 1935) and Dawn (born 1938), lived in Island Lake, Gods Lake and Sherridon. While in the north, Peggy contracted polio. The disease left her with lifelong physical challenges, but these never defined her beyond her disdain for exercise and the love of an afternoon nap. Peggy received her early education in Sherridon before leaving the north for Winnipeg, where she attended St. Mary's Academy and the University of Manitoba. She eventually took roles in a dental office and a local advertising agency.
Peggy met Ed in 1956 and the two were married only months later. They settled their family in St. Vital following the arrival of Bill in 1957, Dan 18 months later and Patti in 1961. Peggy supported Ed's career in law while raising their three children, volunteering for community service including canvassing for the United Way, taking shifts at the school library and, glamorously, serving along with Ed as Aides de Camp to Richard S. Bowles, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, in a term that stretched across the centennial celebrations for Canada in 1967 and Manitoba in 1970. Pictures of Ed and Peg in tuxedo and wildly coloured 1960s ballroom gowns will always position them in their prime as a vibrant, attractive and committed couple living in an exciting time and being a part of it.
Peggy kept a great and beautiful home. She was sparkling as a hostess and undivided in her attention, even with throngs of loud and hungry teenagers who were always welcome at 25 Tod Drive. Peggy loved to read. She enjoyed cooking in her bright orange kitchen overlooking the Red River, and magnificent Sunday evening family meals continued long after the kids grew up and began setting up their own homes.
Although Ed's retirement period was brief, they aged together in Fort Richmond, tending their garden, reading in their sunroom and travelling frequently to Toronto to visit Patti's and Dan's families. Of all her roles in life, we have no doubt that being Nana to seven grandchildren was her best fit and absolute favourite, even if that involved the odd salamander or squishy bug in the house. Ed and Peg's plan to relocate to Toronto was never fully executed. She arrived in 2007 immediately following Ed's passing, eventually settling in Christie Gardens where she lived for the last 15 years of her life.
As time progressed, Peggy became increasingly reliant on her caregivers at Christie Gardens and frequent visits by her family. The pandemic brought additional challenges, but throughout her time at Christie Gardens her family was always comforted by the safety of her environment, the quality of care she received and the dignity she was provided.
After 16 years apart, Peggy will be laid to rest beside her beloved Ed in the Toronto Necropolis, just across the street from the Cabbagetown Zoo where many special memories of time with grandchildren were made.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 11, 2023