Margo McCutcheon 

Mar. 26, 1956 – Dec. 16, 2020

Margo, daughter of Ed and Marjorie and Marvin, special granddaughter of Doris, sister to Darren, Karen-Anne and Eddie, niece of favourite Auntie Joanie and dear family and friend to so many others.

This is a message from the Canadian friends who loved Margo and shared so many experiences with her over the jam-packed adventure of her life. 

Mexico became Margo’s home of choice for its warmth, colours and people.  She became a Mexican citizen and never stopped studying Spanish. Margo was dedicated to her friendships in Ajijic and especially to her Mexican family, Rudolfo and Ana and her 7 cats. 

We are celebrating, grieving and remembering Margo as the vivacious, witty, educated, generous, smart, fierce friend that we shared. From the beginning of her life in Alberta as the Princess of Ponoka to all the countries she lived in on this planet, Margo made friends. Above all else, she was a truly great friend.

Margo was fearless. She lived on a sailboat in a West Coast harbour and she lived in Spain, Egypt and Scotland. She built a home on Gabriola Island and raised chickens and nurtured cats. Margo loved animals with her favourite being the furry feline. But along the way she had a rooster named Liberace and hens Camilla, Diana and Fergie after the British royal family.

Not only was Margo unfailingly kind to animals (including mice she would only live trap), she also was so attentive to her friend’s children throughout their childhood into adulthood.  She adopted the children as her own and contributed in so many ways to the growing up of these young persons. One friend said that her daughter’s first words when she heard of Margo’s passing were ‘oh mum she was always so nice to us’.  She was indeed, in the truest sense of inquiry and caring concern.

Margo was a great cook and used this skill to feed people and get them around a table or even make meals for delivery when they were going through a hard time.  She was always generous with the biggest open heart. She would give of her time and resources without question and was always there to roll up her sleeves no matter what needed done. 

Margo loved words and made a difference to readers and writers everywhere through her work as a librarian in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Slave Lake. Margo wrote letters to the Editor and columnists of various newspapers. She had an informed opinion about everything. Her letters were so engaging that some of the columnists became regular correspondents with her just for the delight of her perspective and wit. It’s hard to imagine Margo without a book in her hand.

Margo was interested and interesting. It was not just her degrees – a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in History and a Master of Library Science – it was her ongoing curiosity. Margo knew the history of everything and loved travel. Her knowledge added so much depth to her travels. Margo surrounded herself with music and supported the arts.  There was a time when Margo had seasons tickets to the Seattle, Vancouver and Edmonton operas. 

How do we as friends capture Margo and her life in words? There are enough stories to fill the rest of our lives and carry her along with us. Margo lived life large and shared it all with us. 

Margo was special. We loved her and are grateful she was our friend.