Obituary of Margaret Janet Cooper

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce the passing of Margaret Janet Cooper on Saturday August 3^rd, 2024, at the age of 77.

Margaret passed away peacefully in the presence of her youngest daughter, holding her hand in Riverview Hospital after a brave and courageous battle with Cancer.

Margaret is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 59 years, George, her first born Barbara and her youngest daughter Sherry.

She was the oldest of four children and is survived by her sister Muriel Ricker (Brian) and her brother Lorne Ducharme.

She was predeceased by her youngest brother, Roger Ducharme in 2015, who she missed everyday. Months prior to her passing, she told us that the only thing giving her comfort was knowing her and Rog would be reunited.

Margaret is also survived by two grandchildren Dana and Eric, four great grandchildren Anne-Marie,

Bradie- Lee, Isabella and Akayla, & two great, great grandchildren Russel and Leo.

She has also left behind numerous nieces and nephews.

Margaret was born in Swan River Manitoba to Peter and Helen Ducharme and grew up in Rossburn Manitoba. She moved to Neelin Manitoba at the age of sixteen, where she met George and was married at the age of eighteen.   

Margaret was a stay-at- home mom when her kids were small and then started working for Home Care when they were teenagers. She enjoyed taking care of and assisting numerous clients for 14 years.

She formed a beautiful companionship with one of her regular clients, and continued their friendship until Dora Mazo passed away, which was many years after she had finished working, Many nights she would take a cab home from Mrs. Mazo’s at 3 am after playing cards for hours, sharing laughs and stories with her 90-year old best friend.

Margaret was awarded her own homecare from Comforts of Home after a car accident in 2016 and appreciated the help that was provided. She too formed friendships with the girls who came on a regular basis, and it was wonderful to see how much they enjoyed coming to the house. We know how much they appreciated working for my mom as she was sweet, kind and welcoming to all those she trusted.

We would like to thank all of her care givers from Comforts of Home that showed her (and George) kindness, compassion, and understanding over the many years in their home in West Kildonan.

Margaret loved her family. Especially the babies. She would always say “give me that baby” when the family started to expand.

Margaret took great pride in the cleanliness of her home, her carefully chosen knick knacks and was a wonderful cook and baker.  She will always be remembered for the variety of Christmas Goodies that many enjoyed every year. She made the best butter tarts and was a master of a flaky pie crust.

Margaret loved to laugh, and many were shared over the years with friends and family playing Crokinole, Yahtzee, Cribbage, Rummoli and a variety of card games.  Everyone felt lucky to get her as a partner in our generational family favorite card game La Barouche.

Many puzzles were done on the kitchen table racing to see who could put in the last piece.

All these memories always had a soundtrack as she was a lover of music. Margaret was an incredible Guitar player in her younger years and had an extremely impressive record collection.

She was always an avid reader, often taking out 10 books or more at a time from the Public Library.  She read everything and all the time, which made her practically unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit.

She loved games and in recent years her love turned into games at the Casino. Mom always put her make up on, carefully selected her jewellery (which she had a huge selection of ) sprayed on some perfume and picked a favorite blouse. She always took pride in how she looked, and always looked beautiful.

George would put her shoes on for her, get her onto the lift in the wheelchair and off they would go for their weekly outings. They knew all the servers at the restaurant where they would have dinner at before they left. Everyone was always happy to see them.

Margaret loved to find the perfect gift for all those she loved and cared about. Many of us were recipients of beautiful things she bought from Avon which she was faithful to for years.  She always took great care of her skin, which was still remarkably luxurious right up to her passing.

Special thanks to the staff at Riverview who took amazing care of our Mother, Wife, Sister, Sister in Law, Aunt, grandmother and friend. Our family is so grateful for the kindness, love and compassion they showed to her, and to our family for the duration she was there.

At her request, cremation has taken place, and no funeral will be arranged.

A celebration of Life for her family and close friends will be held in the coming weeks.