Margaret Isobel MCBURNEY

MARGARET ISOBEL MCBURNEY 'McElroy'February 27, 1931 - November 17, 2018 Margaret was born in Regina, Saskatchewan to (the late) Harold Clarence and Ethel Irene (Murdoch) McElroy. Growing up during the Depression, she learned from them how small acts of kindness could impact others' lives. It was a lesson she practiced for the rest of her life. Margaret earned her Bachelor of Interior Design in 1954 (University of Manitoba) and became an author of Canadian social history, heritage buildings and architecture. With Mary Byers, she co-authored six social histories: Rural Roots, Homesteads, The Governor's Road, Tavern on the Town, Atlantic Hearth and True Newfoundlanders. She authored The Great Adventure: The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and edited It's All About Kindness: Remembering June Callwood. She was involved and on the board of many organizations; most significantly she became a Founder and Board Member of Casey House Hospice at the height of the AIDs crisis. She was also President (1998-2000) and member of the Toronto Arts and Letters Club. The early death of her father, in a plane crash, made her fiercely loyal to those she loved. She threw her substantial energy into numerous projects and causes as her lifetime moto was: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' (Edmund Burke). In 1972, when firecrackers seriously burned her son John, doctors told her that every holiday hospital admissions of young, firecracker burn victims spiked. So she led a successful national campaign to ban firecrackers in Canada. In 1980, after John was killed by a drunk driver, Margaret campaigned to tighten the national laws on drunk driving. Predeceased by her brother Murdoch McElroy (1991), son John (1980), ex-spouse Robert McBurney (2012), spouse D. Rodwell Austin (2002) and companion Robert Beardsley (2017). Survived by her children Jay (Jonathan Kitchener) and Megan McBurney (Robert Clegg), Austin step-daughters Janet (Wayne), Nancy (Chris) and Eleanor (Doug), grandchildren Cameron and Charlotte Kitchener, Gavin & Marlowe Clegg, Luke Maggie and Will Pearson, Meredith and Daniel Austin-Appleton, Taylor and Hilary Evans. Margaret passed away peacefully at age 87, in the company of her two daughters, with sunshine and music in the background. She remained charming and loving, singing right to her last days. She will be remembered for her innate kindness, intelligence, resilience and grace. Online condolences may be made to margaretimcburney@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer Society of Toronto.