January 27, 1926 – June 6, 2016
at the age of 90 years
A celebration of Margie’s life will be held at 11:30 AM on Saturday June 25 at Mara Church, followed by a reception at Mara Community Hall.
Margie was born in January 1926 near St. Brieux, Saskatchewan. In 1930 her parents, Mike and Julia Forgo, moved their children to BC’s Abbotsford area. When her father found steady work with CNR in 1935 he moved his family to Blackpool, and then to Campbell Creek. By 1940 they were all back in Abbotsford where her parents had purchased a farm. The family continued to grow, and altogether Margie had eight siblings: Elsie, Julia, Mike, Rose, Pearl, Rudy, Illona, and Vicky.
On New Year’s Eve 1942 Margie met Joseph Werner, who became the love of her life. They married in 1943 and began mixed farming. Over the next fifteen years they became focused on dairy farming and had three sons and a baby girl.
In 1968 they sold their farm in Yarrow and moved to a farm in Mara with their youngest son. There they built a new house and lived beside the Shuswap River. Besides several hobbies – photography, gardening, sewing, needlework, travel – Margie had a remarkable memory and accumulated a storehouse of knowledge that will be missed.
Her husband Joseph passed away in 2005. With the help of several wonderful local friends Margie was able to continue living in the home she loved until 2013, when she moved to Salmon Arm.
Margie passed away peacefully on June 6 at Shuswap Lake General Hospital. She is survived by her three sons: Joe (Ruth), Len (Tracy), and Nick (Debbi); five grand-children: Janice (Rob), Andy, Cindy, Carmen (Jon), and Greg; and four great-grandchildren: Courtney, Wesley, Raven, and Tamsin.
The family extends sincere thanks to the friends mentioned above; to Margie’s physician during the past several years, Dr. Angela Plessis; to those who provided such good care and support to her at the hospital; and to the friendly and helpful staff at Lakeside Manor. And finally to the palliative caregivers at Bastion Place who, last summer, were so effective at creating a positive atmosphere in a customarily less than positive situation that, to everyone’s surprise, Margie recovered and emerged to live independently for several more months.
We were blessed to have known Margie. She became family in Christ to us, these past seven years. With her limitless hugs, Margie made God’s world a much friendlier, loving place. We will miss the ornery, cantankerous old bag!