MAGGIE CITRIN

January 3, 1947 - June 30, 2022
Maggie (née Jill Margaret Modell) Citrin left this world on her own terms, in her own bed, on a beautiful summer evening with the aid of her devoted Dr. Mundy and nurse Lisa. Maggie had been suffering from lung cancer and intense spinal pain, both of which she bore courageously.
Maggie was born in Detroit, Michigan and studied art at Wayne State University, graduating with a B.F.A. and M.F.A. Her interest in environmental issues started early. As a young mother she was part of a group that set up one of the first curbside recycling programs in the U.S., which inspired her to pursue graduate studies at University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment. Work on her thesis took her to Chile to investigate the effect of pesticides on farmworkers and develop education protocols to improve farmworker safety. In the summer of 1998, after ten years in Chile, Maggie and her husband Richard Culbert moved to B.C.'s Sunshine Coast. Maggie continued to be passionate about the environment, a hiker and bird watcher, as well as a member and supporter of various environmental organizations. She loved visiting exotic locales such as Patagonia, a place that inspired many drawings and paintings, Papua New Guinea, and the Amazon. In her youth she lived in Spain and learned flamenco dancing.
A great reader and lover of music, particularly Bach but also Willie Nelson, Maggie had an extensive library of literature and music that she readily shared with friends. Her collection, in fact, defied the bounds of bookshelves, spilling down the stairways and forming small mountain ranges in the bedroom. But her métier was art, painting and drawing, and work with clay, including tiles and sets of dishes that she made for herself and for others. She exhibited her large canvases, drawings, and clay sculpture in the U.S. and Canada. However, her art was not confined to studios and galleries. She made what her brother called "talking tiles" with quotes from her favourite authors and set them in walkways and around her home. She created beauty in her garden and her house where her large canvases could make it seem like visitors were walking through a landscape of waterfalls, hummingbirds and boats. She knew not only how to choose unique clothes, but also how and when to wear them to compliment her olive skin and her waist-long hair and the trademark gold bangles she always wore on her wrists. A fantastic cook and generous hostess, she presided over hours-long, multiple-course meals and annual family gatherings for her and Richard's scattered brood.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband Richard Culbert (1940-2017) and will be greatly missed by her children Ana (Tim), Kayla (Felix), Vance (Kirsten) and Heather (Tom), 11 grandchildren, brother Andy Modell, cousin Jane Fishman, and by her many friends on the Sunshine Coast and elsewhere in Canada, in the U.S, Chile and beyond.
The family requests that gifts in Maggie's memory be donated to The Wilderness Committee: https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/