Obituary of Marjorie Louise Allin Spooner

SPOONER - On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, Marjorie Louise Allin Spooner died just short of her 98th birthday and with her death, some of the light went out of the world. Predeceased by her son, David, in 1942 and her husband, Gordon, in 1996, Marjorie is survived by her sons, Tony (Mary Lou) of Flin Flon, MB; Rick (Carol) of Edmonton, AB; Rod (Betty) of La Ronge, SK; 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Marjorie was born and raised in Edmonton, the third of the five children of Dr. Edgar Allin and his wife, Rose. Growing up in the early 20th Century in the young Alberta was an idyll for Marjorie and her brother and sisters. Those times remained foremost in her memory and the friendships she made then endured for her lifetime. Marjorie was one of the few young women of her day to be educated beyond high school. She attended the University of Alberta, graduating in 1931 with a BSc in Biology. She loved the natural world and had a deep spiritual and intellectual understanding of the life and lives that existed around her. She knew about gardening, and birds, and the stars that shone in the sky. She knew about mountains and how they were formed, about rivers, and about where they came from and where they ran to. Marjorie was blessed with intelligence and empathic understanding and these qualities served her throughout her long life. In 1932, Marjorie's life took a dramatic turn: her mother and older sister died under the family's roof on the same day, and within months her father was dead as well. The Great Depression was underway and money was short. The children sold the house and set about supporting themselves as best they could. Marjorie worked as a lab technician at the University of Alberta, where she also met an impecunious medical student, Gordon Spooner. In 1936, they married and embarked for England where Gordon took further training the specialty of Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat. Their first son, Tony, was born in Oxford, just days before the outbreak of World War II. In 1940, the couple returned to Canada where Gordon joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. Shortly before Gordon went overseas, Marjorie bore her second son, David. Six months later, the little boy was dead, a crib death, as it was called. She kept David in a special place in her heart and he lived there always. In 1945, Gordon returned from overseas and Marjorie had her third and fourth sons (Rick and Rod). The decades to come saw some of the key relationships in Marjorie's life develop, solidify, and persist until she died. She was a Charter member of Lakeview United Church, and she continued for another fifty years the work she had begun with the Red Cross Society during the War. Life revolved around her boys, and, later, her grandchildren as they came along. She was so much fun, and knew so clearly how the minds of little boys and girls worked, that it's no wonder they flocked to her like so many small sparrows. In old age, Marjorie's indomitable spirit never wavered and her lively intelligence never let her down. If anything defined her, it was her ability to see beauty in everything. She truly knew what "joy was. After her beloved Gordon died in 1996, she continued to live in their home until a hip fracture ended her independent existence. Her last years were spent first at Marian Chateau and finally at Erimus/Solace Care Home where the countless silken ties of love and thought that had bound her to everything on earth the compass round, now held fast, never, never failing her. Marjorie's funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in Lakeview United Church, 3200 McCallum Ave., Regina, with the Rev. Dave Eskdale presiding. Flowers gratefully declined. Friends so wishing may make donations, in memoriam, to the Canadian Red Cross Society, 100 2050 Cornwall St. Regina, SK, S4P 2K5. An on-line book on condolences may be signed at www.speersfuneralchapel.com