Family & Parenting Press Release Spiritual Margrit's Light
April 18th, 2007
Submitted by Rosemary Gahlinger-Beaune 23 Acorn Place London, ON N6G 4J2
Tel: 519-641-7228 Email: rosiegb@rogers.com
MARGRIT'S LIGHT A Living Memorial
By Rosemary Gahlinger-Beaune
On the possible eve of her passage we take a moment to offer a living memorial to a woman who epitomizes the meaning of living. Margrit Gahlinger, mother, humanitarian, a person strong of faith and citizenry, courage, faith and hope is preparing for her passage. Referred by many as a Queen Mother or a Saint, for she embraced all those characteristics, Margrit will leave a void in our community. If she should pass before you read this then stop for a moment and offer her a blessing, wish her a safe passage and light a candle, or turn on a light, to illuminate the way, and give her warmth in her journey.
How can anyone begin to encapsulate this woman's life in a short article? Her life experiences and wisdom will fill tomes. Today we celebrate a life worth noting, worthy of recognition and honour. In her 90th year, Margrit continues to teach us.
Born in Gahwil Switzerland, her father the local cheese maker and mother the keeper/caretaker of house and gardens, raised five children. Margrit fell in love with Anton at the age of 28. It was his spirit and sense of adventure that swept her. Anton was a visionary and an idealist she would say. Married to him she lived in Switzerland and then at the Vatican, in the neutral and the sacred, encased by countries in battle across the world. Anton served as a Captain of the Swiss Guard under the authority of Pope Pious X11 and briefly Pope John the VI. In 1955, Anton and his family of seven children immigrated to Canada. They settled on a 50 acre farm in Sommers Corners, a small hamlet near Aylmer, Ontario. Anton delivered lectures on serving the Pope to various audiences in the USA, South America and Canada. He also wanted to farm. In the next two years Margrit would bear another two children and the early loss of her husband.
Left to raise nine children aged 2-12 years old, in poverty and alone to manage the farm, she led a life of hardship and struggles, yet Margrit championed. As the children grew and entered university Margrit sold the farm and moved to London. Then at the age of fifty she enrolled at Fanshawe College to study Behavioural Science. She spoke often of her difficulties and frustrations at writing papers and completing exams. She still felt she hadn't mastered the English language.
Hired by the London Housing Authority she would again show her compassion and wisdom while she helped hundreds of low income families. She was their inspiration, their proof that one could rise against the odds and come out the winner. Always an optimist, always positive and relishing in challenges, Margrit would be bestowed the first Mary Campbell award for Citizenship in 1983. When she retired she dedicated her time to volunteering while donating a substantial amount of her "below poverty standard" income to charities. From saving an endangered species to fostering children to medical research and environmental causes, she gave to all of them because they "needed help". Margrit felt she had everything. A cozy 2 bedroom apartment, a trip or two each year, nine healthy children, six grandchildren and a great grandchild, she thought she was truly blessed.
Margrit's greatest passion was to learn, to venture beyond the norm and to experience the world and its culture. She tells tales of baboons in the wilds of Kenya, the holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem, riding on the Yantze and the Amazon Rivers, the polar bears of Baffin Island, to the glaciers and volcanic fields of Iceland, to Europe and Peru and of travels to countries beyond and in-between.
Her energy, strength and vitality were seen through her battle with chemo and radiation. Last December Margrit's Light was received by over 27 countries. Candles were lit in prayer to her on Christmas Eve and her health remarkably improved. In the weeks following she would be transferred out of palliative care and told she could return home. As she gazed at the globe, lying in her hospital bed at Victoria Hospital she remarked "how overwhelmed I am by the love of so many, so, so many and from so far away". Humble, shy Margrit interacted with thousands of local citizens and people she met in her numerous travels. "You meet her and fall in love with her" is echoed by many who know her. Her very spirit touched their souls. She would adopt them all into her greater family.
In the new year, she said "my body, and illness, force me to abandon my independency" and her spirit began to give way. She was moved into enhanced care in a retirement home, a facility she had hoped all her life she would never have to enter. To give up her freedom, she would say, meant giving up part of her soul. And now, months later, she returned to the palliative unit and awaits her last breath. Margrit's Light will shine in all those she has met and in all those who she shared her vast wisdom and love. Through them, her legacy will transpire. She is a model of citizenship. She is our inspiration for leading a good life. We can only hope to aspire to her level of humanitarianism and we give thanks to her for her generosity of spirit and soul.
Her son drafted an obituary which read in part "To all who knew her, she was a beacon of hope and optimism. To her family, she was a lighthouse of faith and integrity."
Related Tags: family, life, experiences, immigrant, margrit
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