Daughter of Hugh Gordon (September 5, 1894-September 24, 1963) and Marjorie Kathleen McAlpine nee Starley (April 18, 1896-March 4, 1964). Hugh was from New Brunswick and was fighting in WW1 when he became a prisoner of war and Kath wrote him letters faithfully until his return in 1918. Kath was born in Coventry and after such lovely letter writing and the war being over, they married.

Predeceased by her ex-husband Lorne Shandley (January 28, 1926-September 19, 1996) also second husband Ernie Gardner (November 4, 1927-March 24, 1998), daughter Jo-Ann Crockford (March 9, 1949-January 24, 2009) and beloved granddaughter Kimberley Waters (January 7, 1969-January 7, 2009).

Survived by one brother Douglas and his wife Twylla, two grandsons Kenny Waters and Bobby Holborn, and great-grandsons Orry and Damian. Also, survived by nieces Veronica, Tricia, Debbie, Lori, Lisa and nephews Ken and Scott, as well as great nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews, plus other family members that came into her life through Ernie and continued to be close to her.

She held all her family in high regard and enjoyed every visit, card, and phone call. Her favorite ritual was to take her visitors out to dinner as her treat.

Marjorie’s mother Kath was born in England and while she was in Coventry, she spent the day with her brother Doug who was in the British army. He took her to visit his barracks unannounced; Hugh was in the galvanized bathtub in the open room which was typical for those days. Her brother quickly turned her around but not before Hugh noticed her. He thought she was very pretty and asked her brother if she would be interested in writing to him while he was away at war. Well, she obviously said ok and their romance blossomed through the postal service. He became a prisoner of war for many years until he escaped near the end of the war and he returned to England for his darling Kath. He married her in 1919.  The following January 13, 1920, Dave was born in Gloucester, England then John on May 5, 1921, in Coventry. Kath came from a very upstanding and famous family in Coventry. They had family ties to Champion spark plugs, Singer sewing machines, and Rover cars. It was very difficult for her to leave all her family behind. Their family of 4 then immigrated to Canada and landed in St. John, New Brunswick where Hugh was from. Then they decided to leave the east coast and head to Lillooet, British Columbia. They got as far as Buffalo, New York when Marjorie was born on August 7, 1923. The family stayed there for a time while Hugh built them a “Caravan” to house his family for the long trip ahead of them heading to the gold strikes in the west. They did not manage to get any miles in their travels when Kath delivered twin boys Doug and Don on October 9, 1927 in Buffalo, New York. Heading further west by only 10 miles, they crossed back into Canada and stayed in Ridgeway, Ontario. Hugh was a mechanic by trade so he managed to get different odd jobs to support his now fairly large family. The Great Depression had started in the United States and they thought they might be fine in Canada. But unfortunately, it followed them there too. Money became very scarce and so he worked some and traveled some but made very slow progress. They travelled across North America by the “caravan” that Hugh made. The family of 7 lived in their caravan for many years as money was scarce and Hugh took odd jobs to earn a living as they traveled. They got to Port Angeles, Washington and stayed with a cousin Beryl for a bit and then proceeded to travel to Victoria, BC before their last leg of their journey to Lillooet.  Once arriving in Victoria in 1930, Kath was ever so comfortable with so many things there because it reminded her of her England. Hugh and Kath remained in Victoria for all of their lives and so did Marjorie.

Marge came to Victoria as a small child in 1930 with her parents and brothers Dave, John, and twins Don and Doug. They all attended Quadra School and Victoria High. The twins were American citizens and so they decided to enlist in the Korean War in 1950. Dave enlisted in the Canadian Navy in 1940.

When she completed her formal education, she enlisted in the American forces as she was an American citizen as well as Canadian. She came home after one year and got married to Lorne on April 26, 1948, and welcomed their daughter Jo Ann the following year. Marjorie was a stay at home wife and mother and then later worked in several grocery store chains in Victoria for many years including Maverick Markets and Safeway. She started in the Safeway stores in 1957. She lived in several districts of Greater Victoria, and it always seemed to everyone that she moved at least once a year.

She struggled for a number of years with losing her brother John at the young age of 22 in 1943, getting a divorce from Lorne, losing her father when he was only 69 and 6 months in 1963, later losing her mother at age 67 in 1964. Her brother Dave passed away at age 65 in 1985, then losing her daughter at age 59 in 2007 and her beloved granddaughter at age 40 in 2009. Her second husband Ernie who she married in 1970 took a serious fail on November 16, 1980, and the brain damage that remained left him requiring a lot of extra help from Marge. She took all of this in her stride and continued to live out her life.  Her last two years, she lived in James Bay Care Centre where she received kind and gentle companionship. She was very grateful for the dedicated and helpful assistance with her daily living that she received from her nephew Ken McAlpine.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, March 9, 2018 at 2 pm in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC.

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com

 

 

  • Eleanor Roberts

    John Kemp Starley was related to me through the Coppen family. My Great Grandfather Thomas Coppen and John Kemp Starley were first cousins.
    It is lovely read about the family.

  • Lynn Mellemstrand

    Thoughts and condolences to all the family. It was always an adventure to visit Auntie Marge. A part of me will always feel blessed to have had her in my life.

  • Byron and Cathy Wilson

    Ken and family, we are so sorry for your loss. What a lovely woman she was. How lucky you were to have a woman like Marjorie in your family and life just as she was lucky to have you all in her life.
    Love and prayers,
    Byron and Cathy

  • LoriAlcocer

    I’m so sorry to hear about auntie Marge she was a wonderful lady .i loved her she was always so full of life.love you Lori and Carlos

  • Cindy Ihlen

    Marjorie was a very special lady and will be missed greatly. She filled a grandma’s roll in my life and for that I will be forever grateful. She never forgot about my brothers and I and always made us feel special. I will take with me her strength, kindness and her beautiful smile.

    Love Cindy Ihlen (Gardner)

  • KenMcAlpine

    I want to thank my sister Patricia Piercy for doing all the obituaries.

    love you

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