August 21, 1916 – March 1, 2012 Margaret Laura Owen Newson - mum or Margaret to her family, and a wise and loving surrogate mother to many others - has died at Courtenay age 95. She was the first of three girls born to James Richard Owen and Elsie Laura Goldsmith at Mt Lehman, beside the farm begun by grandfather Kessin Goldsmith in 1877. Her grandmother Laura, mother Elsie, sister Ellen, uncle Richard and cousins Ruth, Lucy and James Owen were her whole early life, which belonged to that first generation to bridge the transition of the Fraser Valley from a place of pre-empted, pioneering farms to the extensive conurbation it is today. Margaret Owen's young life was not easy. The death of her infant sister Elsie in 1917 haunted her childhood. Her father's death in 1922, when she was six, left an emotional void never fully filled. She remembered him ever as a loving, gentle presence, the essence of her own quiet being. Her mother Elsie died in 1942, of a cancer, when Margaret was 26. Those early deaths lay like shadows on her childhood, too-early intimations of life's evanescence, and its sorrow. Happier days followed. In 1937 she met and married the young English émigré Douglas Eric Newson, first encountered, she liked to recall, one sunny May morning on the Bradner Road, whistling as he walked. They came to Comox in 1937 where he worked at Comox Logging and Railway's Camp #3, as a fireman on the locies that carried the great trees of that time to tidewater. Her first son, Douglas Owen, was born in 1940 at Cumberland; the family then lived at Headquarters, when trips to town were by rail, on a speeder. A second son, Bryan, was born at Comox in 1945. These sons, their friends, their children, and her great grandchildren were the joyous centre of her life, and she was never happier or more pleased than when surrounded by, especially, her grandchildren, who adored her. Margaret's work outside her home was as clerk for the Town of Comox; as office manager for the family business; and as receptionist at the Comox Medical Clinic. She was a long-time volunteer at the Comox Library, when that remarkable institution was led by great friend Margo Simon and run by volunteers including close friends Betty Idiens, Liz Stubbs, Mary Turner, and Gladys Mooney.Perhaps because so much of Margaret's early life was lived in sorrow, she was especially alert to hurt in others. Her great gift was for friendship, and friends of all ages looked in to tell their stories, lighten their hearts, and join her merriment in all their mutual foibles. She connected deeply to children, keeping their secrets while guiding them to tolerance, understanding, and safety. She was a great reader, never more content than when beside her fire, immersed in one or more of the thousands of books she liked to share with kindred spirits. All these will miss this gentle, laughing spirit, who in addition to her friends, also loved scones, amusing characters, and Scotch whisky. We cherish her memory. Predeceased by sisters Elsie Alice (1917) and Ellen May Owen (2008); husband of many years Douglas Eric Newson (2003): favourite nephew Peter (1989); brother-in-law Robert (1970) and nephew George Newson (2001); and almost all her older friends. Survived by son Douglas and his wife Patricia; son Bryan; grandchildren Gary, Diana, Emily, Adlai, and Oren Newson; great-grandchildren Nathan and Zoë Wood; George's family, Kella (wife) and their children, Aaron, Susie, Richelle and Diana; loving friends Jacquie Holmes; Dave and Una Ratcliffe; Susan Westren; and their families. A very special thanks to the staff at Comox Valley Seniors Village who gave great care to Margaret in her final days, and to the hospice volunteers who sat with her for many hours. A ceremony honouring Margaret's life will take place this summer.