MARGARET WALSHE

MARGARET LOU WALSHE (née Mallak) December 5, 1934 ~ December 10, 2025
Margaret "Margie" Lou Walshe, 91, of Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, passed from this world on December 10, 2025. Born on a crisp December day in 1934 in the small town of Winsted, Minnesota, to Irene and Joseph Mallak, Margaret entered life with the spark of a storyteller, her heart forever attuned to the poetry of the natural and the sacred rhythms of the soul.

From her earliest days, Margie's spirit yearned for horizons beyond the familiar. A graduate of Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she wove words into bridges across cultures. After a year of teaching English at a high school in Minnesota, she earned a coveted place in the International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) to India in 1957. Embarking on this six-month odyssey awakened within her a profound reverence for the interconnectedness of humanity and the earth. Following her return to the United States, she shared her experience from overseas as she embarked on a lecture tour for several months, based out of the Minnesota County Extension Offices.

Fate eventually led Magaret to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in Ontario, where, amid the ancient granite sentinels of Lake Superior, she met Shan Walshe of Toronto, whose eyes shared her gift of seeing the poetry in every petal and pine. Their love was immediate, a wild harmony of souls drawn to the untamed beauty of the wild, and they were married in 1960. In 1961, Margie and Shan pedaled through the sun-dappled lanes of Europe from August to December, their bicycles laden with dreams and the simple joy of shared horizons.

After returning to Canada, Shan taught high school languages for a number of years, while Margaret was a part-time high school English teacher until the birth of their children. Following the birth of their first two daughters, Shan returned to university in 1967 to obtain a Masters in Botany and Ecology. In 1970, Shan and Margie settled in the vast wilds of Northwestern Ontario, raising four children Bridget, Kathleen, Shannon, and Patrick and eventually living in the heart of Quetico Provincial Park year-round from 1973 to 1991. There, amid the calls of loons and rustle of pines, Margie nurtured not just her family, but a profound intimacy with the land. She was the hearth-keeper of their rustic haven and also a hostess at Quetico Center for a number of years, while Shan's work as a park field naturalist wove seamlessly into their days. Together, Shan and Margaret cultivated a legacy of wonder, where every trail was a verse.

The year 1991 brought a shadow that tested the depths of Margie's resilient heart: the untimely passing of Shan, her beloved companion of three decades. Yet even in grief, she turned toward light, relocating to South Gillies (rural Thunder Bay), Ontario, in 1992. She transformed her new home into a sanctuary of renewal - a sprawling wildflower meadow that danced with lupines and black-eyed Susans, lush gardens that fed both body and spirit, and a cherished "Mountain Meadow" Bed & Breakfast, where travellers became friends over warm loaves and tales of the road. In this fertile ground, Margaret sowed new connections, but beneath her outward bloom lay a deeper call, a spiritual hunger that drew her to join the Lay Order of the Discalced Carmelites. She began this formation in 1998, and ten years later, she made her final vows. Embracing this call with unwavering fidelity, she lived the rest of her days with a greater focus on contemplation, her prayers a bridge between the earthly and the eternal.

Margaret is predeceased by her devoted parents, Irene and Joseph Mallak; her siblings, Bernadine and Joe; as well as her irreplaceable husband, Shan. She leaves behind a constellation of love: her cherished children, Bridget (Michael Akey) Walshe, Kathleen (Scott) Wentzell, Shannon Walshe, and Patrick (Shannon Cowan) Walshe; her grandchildren, Jordan, Joshua, Sarah, Benjamin, Peter, Zaira and Teegan; her great-grandchildren, Svetlana, Michael, and Felix; along with her siblings, Sylvia, Mavis, Connie, Mary Jo, and Celestine. In her passing, she rejoins the great communion of souls she held so dear, her spirit now free to wander the infinite meadows where wildflowers never fade.

The family extends deepest gratitude to the compassionate hands that eased her final chapter: the staff of Southbridge Lakehead Manor; Dr. Ruby Klassen, whose care was a gift of dignity and kindness; the local Carmelite community; and Father Doug McClure, who generously provided regular visits and spiritual nourishment.

A vigil will be held at Blake's Funeral Chapel, Thunder Bay, on Friday, December 19th at 6:00 p.m., with prayers at 7:00 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Kakabeka Falls at 11:00 a.m. on December 20th. In lieu of flowers, please consider planting a wildflower seed, sharing a story of adventure with someone dear, or making a donation to a charity of your choice - acts that echo the vibrant life Margaret so beautifully lived.

On-line Condolences may be sent to www.blakefuneralchapel.com