L. Marguerite BEESLEY

BEESLEY, L Marguerite (Byrnes)
February 20, 1925 - October 1, 2015
Marguerite passed away peacefully with family at her side on October 1, 2015 at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Marguerite leaves a legacy of 7 children: Cecelia (Tom) Burns, Mary-Marguerite (Kirk) Johnstone, Bernadette Beesley, Tom Beesley, Maureen (Garry) Reynolds, Alan (Joanne) Beesley and Kathleen (Phil) Bennett; fourteen grandchildren: Sean Burns, Erin (Jesse) Smith, Sheila (Kemp) Edmonds, Brendan (Melissa) Burns, Leigh (Dan) Fortuna, Heather (Reto) Camenzind, Derrick Harrison, Mark Harrison, Kimberly Beesley, Drew Beesley (Anastasia Tsareva), Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Reynolds, Darcy (James) Searcy and Dylan (Becky) Beesley; and eight great- grandchildren: Cieran and Kali Smith, Liam Edmonds, Cole Burns, Kye Fortuna, Triniti, Christian and Arianna Beesley.
Marguerite was predeceased by her husband - the love of her life - Dr. Bernard Beesley; her parents Tom and Cecelia Byrnes and three infant children, Anne-Marie, Terrance and Moira.
Marguerite was raised in Vancouver. She graduated from UBC in 1947 with a BA in English and History and a minor in Psychology. She married in 1950 and moved to Kamloops in 1954 when her husband Bernard joined the Irving Clinic as a General Practitioner.
Marguerite enjoyed an extremely active family, church and community life. She worked for her parents in Vancouver at the Byrnes Typewriter Ltd. until her marriage in 1950 and as a secretary for St. Ann's Academy in Kamloops from 1970-1986. She was a long time member of Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Catholic Women's League, the Newman Club and Marriage Encounter. In the community she participated in many organizations including the University Women's Club, the Council of Christian and Jews, the YMCA/YWCA, the 1993 Canada Summer Games, the Hospice Association, the Happy Choristers, the Kamloops Medical Wives Group, Seniors Outreach and the Mayors Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities. She received the YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 2001. In 2008 she was honoured with eleven other women by the Kamloops Women's Resource Group Society for contributions to community life in Kamloops, in the book "Not Just A Tea Party."
Mom loved life! She loved to spend her summers at the Bee Hive family cabin on Shuswap Lake surrounded by family and friends. She especially loved watching each new generation discover the beauty of the Lake and the love of family. Mom loved to travel to discover new adventures and meet people, but most of all she savoured moments with her family.
We love you Mom! You will always remain in our hearts.
The family thanks the staff at Berwick on the Park, Ponderosa Lodge and Royal Inland Hospital for providing superb loving care for Mom this year. We are very grateful to Dr. Bantock and the staff who took care of Mom for so many years. Thank you to Fr. Weisbeck for his spiritual counsel on this journey. We consider ourselves to be very blessed to have had the tremendous support these organizations and individuals provided both Mom and our family.
Prayers will be at Holy Family Catholic Church in Valleyview, 2797 Sunset Drive, V2C 4K7 on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m. and the Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, October 9 at 11 a.m. The Celebrant will be Fr. Weisbeck, pastor of Holy Family.
If friends desire, donations may be made in her memory to St. Ann's Academy, 205 Columbia Street, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 2S7.
Condolences may be expressed at: www.schoeningfuneralservice.com