MARGARET ROSE BARTON (PHILLIPS)

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MARGARET ROSE BARTON (nee PHILLIPS) Margaret Barton passed away on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg Manitoba. She was 78. Margaret was predeceased by her loving parents, John and Elizabeth; and siblings, Amy, Evelynn, Audrey, Raymond, Irene and Ronnie. She is survived by her daughters, Beth and Melanie, and her son Jason. She is survived as well by her sister Marna; brothers, Bobby and Wayne, and numerous in-laws, nieces and nephews. Born June 5, 1939, in Edmonton, Alberta to John Stuart Phillips and Elizabeth Mary Phillips (nee Diederich); Margaret was the seventh of ten children. After graduating from St. Joseph Catholic High School in Edmonton, she spent a year teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in Sexsmith, Alberta, before attending Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Under the tutelage of its founder Pere Athol Murray she developed her love of The Classics, Literature, Philosophy and Theology. While attending college she met her future husband Brian Barton of Bissett, Manitoba. After graduating college, getting married and spending a year living in Peace River, Alberta, they moved back to Margaret's hometown of Edmonton, where their three children Beth, Melanie (Darren) and Jason (Tammy) were born. In 1969, the family moved to Winnipeg, where Margaret became a substitute teacher with the St. James Assiniboia School Division - primarily at Lincoln, Sansome and Westwood schools. She later retired from the school division but remained an educator as a tutor with the Nathan McKay Learning Resource Centre at the University of Winnipeg. Her love of learning was something inherited by her granddaughter Boadicea, and grandsons, Hunter and Ryder. She would always take the time to listen to anyone who talked about learning, always encouraging them to think logically, but also creatively. Margaret was an avid sports fan. Basketball was her favorite, however hockey and football followed closely behind. Her winters were spent either at the hockey rink or on the curling rink with her fellow Assiniboine Christian Centre parishioners. She was well known in the Kirkfield Westwood sports community as a parent, a softball coach, a softball Convenor and Summer Sports Director. Margaret developed Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune disorder of which there is no known cause. On September 11, 2001, Margaret received 2/3 of her son Jason's liver, becoming only the third person in Canada to receive a living donor liver transplant. The operation was done at the University of Western Ontario. Thank you to the Winnipeg Health Science Centre Liver Clinic for their pre and post-transplant care. Specific thanks to Drs. Minuk, Renner, Kaita, and Peretz, and to Rose, Vicki and Elyse. She continued to reside in the family home until 2013, when she moved to Sturgeon Creek II Retirement Residence. In 2015, the increasing care needs required due to her growing struggles with dementia necessitated her moving to the Riverview Health Centre. Thank you to all the health care professionals who looked after Mom while she lived at Riverview and Poseidon. A Funeral Mass will be held at John XXIII Catholic Church, 3390 Portage Avenue, in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Thursday, October 26 at 1:30 p.m. Interment will follow in the spring of 2018 at the Holy Cross Cemetery in St. Albert (Edmonton), Alberta. In lieu of flowers, we suggest a donation to either: The Liver Foundation of Canada, The Alzheimer Association of Manitoba or to The Riverview Health Centre Foundation. NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com
Publish Date: Oct 21, 2017

MARGARET ROSE BARTON (nee PHILLIPS) Born June 5, 1939, in Edmonton, Alberta; Margaret Barton passed away on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, at Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the age of 78 years. Mass will be held at John XXIII Catholic Church, 3390 Portage Avenue at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, October 26. Interment will occur at Holy Cross Cemetery in St. Albert (Edmonton), Alberta. Longer notice to follow in the October 21 edition. NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE 204-949-2200 neilbardalinc.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 21, 2017