It is with profound sadness and grief that we announce the passing of Margaret Evelyn Axford. Margaret was small and she was mighty in her intellect, wisdom, compassion, and charisma. Margaret was a leader. She was a teacher, community activist and organizer, feminist, historian, author and editor and a world traveller. Described once in the Frontenac News as a Spitfire, she was a valued member of her community and an all-round nice person. Margaret died at home with her husband Ian at her side. Her daughter, Margot, her dear cousin Judith and her cherished friends Wendy and Marg were with her in spirit.
Margaret earned an Honours BA in English and French at The University of Western Ontario, graduating in the spring of 1964, having already been accepted to the Bachelor’s of Education program at the University of Toronto. After obtaining her B.Ed, she was offered her first teaching position at Monarch Park Secondary School in Toronto where she taught for four years. In the fall of 1968 she accepted a position at H.B. Beal Secondary School in London in London, Ontario, a school closer to her childhood home of Verschoyle, Ontario. She taught at Beal for two years.
Never one for big city life, Margaret applied in 1972 for a position at North Addington Education Centre (NAEC) in Cloyne, Ontario and was hired the day of her interview. At NAEC she taught English for years and latterly some French. She progressed through the ranks to Department Head, Vice Principal both at NAEC and Napanee Secondary School. Following this, she became Principal of the Gateway extended learning school in Napanee to retire to her home in Cloyne in 1996.
After retirement, she was one of the primary movers in the development of Pine Meadow Nursing Home in Northbrook. She helped redevelop the Cloyne and District Historical Society into what it is today, being the curator of its Museum from its rebirth for eight years, but continued to take a very active roll in the Society’s endeavours.
Her love of the area and its history was contagious and respected by those associated with the Museum and the community. She will be greatly missed by her loving students, her husband Ian & daughter Margot Stothers, the myriad of cousins across the country and the close friends and colleagues she cherished in the Land O’Lakes area. Margaret was a charming, vibrant woman with a disarming smile and a wonderfully wry sense of humour! She will be dearly missed and remembered fondly.
Details of a Celebration of her wonderful Life will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. If your thoughts were of maintaining her legacy, the Cloyne and District Historical Society would be honoured by any donations.
