Margaret Rennie

Margaret Elizebeth Rennie
March 1, 1929 - September 27,2012

Our Mother... Our Mom... Our Nuna... Your Sister... Margaret... Margie... Aunty Margie... Your Neighbour... Your Friend... Your Co-Worker... Your Waitress... MARGARET ELIZEBETH RENNIE... passed away at 7:29pm, September 27th, 2012... with her daughter, son and Carey at her side....... Mom was laid to rest alongside her husband Bob (Robo) Rennie on Wednesday... In attendance at a heartfelt graveside celebration were... Marg’s 2 children, Patricia Rennie and Bob Rennie along with Mieko Rennie, Carey Fouks, the grandchildren; Kristopher, Katie and Stephanie and Kristopher’s fiancé, Yael Cohen, with the unwavering support of Mom’s brother and sister in-law Frank & Lisa Affettuso, along with Carey’s parents Les and Faith Fouks, in attendance.

Mom will be sadly missed by many family, friends, and relatives, many nieces and nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. Mom was predeceased by too many friends including Florence (Toots) and also by her mother and father Molly and Nick Affettuso, sister Kathy Rossetti, brother-in-law Hector Rossetti and their lovely daughter, Linda, and is survived by a sister Joan and brother-in-law Grant.

Margaret was a very special kind of Mom, ...around the time Mom wanted a dog... Jan... we borrowed $6 from the neighbours to buy Jan..... Mom decided that she needed more money to support some of her passions, ....to paint the kitchen every year, replace last year’s dish pattern every year, re-carpet the house every 2 years and buy furniture from Eaton’s Warehouse the way most families purchased toothpaste. Not to mention that every window in our 800 square-foot home was to be covered with “Austrian Drapes”...and bedspreads. Bedspreads from “The House of Maxwell” would not only adorn the bed - we believe that our Mom invented bedspread fabric walls!

To pull off this amazing feat, in her late 30’s, our Mom went to work at Mario’s Italian Restaurant, at Nanaimo and Broadway, then onto Torna-Sorrento on Granville, the Rendevouz on Robson and then onto the dining rooms of the Villa and Eldorado Hotels. This brought such joy to Mom’s life as she was relevant, current, and engaged..... Mom loved working with the public and this enabled the confidence in Mom to obtain a driver’s license and buy a 1966 Mustang from her brother Frank’s 800 Car Market...WOW! ....we were all so proud and felt so special..... when we pulled up to the local Dairy Queen.

We all benefitted from Mom’s career as a waitress, there was always a drawer full of quarters and fifty-cent pieces for us to dip into, the ice cream truck would never pass our house without being waved down, nor would the picture on a pony man...and Patricia had the wardrobe of teen star, with dresses from Sweet Sixteen, suede coats and a clutch purse and Mom would have an array of leopard skin coats and purses, and big purses, well before they were in Vogue....we would dine out at Scott’s on Granville and “order anything we wanted”.....Sundays would often see roast beef and Yorkshire pudding replaced with a table overflowing with buckets of KFC or take-out from the Ding Ho or The Dragon Inn....and Dad would wear the suits of a banker, while being a truck driver.

Mom’s Christmas cakes, pineapple upside-down cakes, and Mom’s chile-con-carne were prepared with no expense spared on ingredients....left over potatoes cooked around the Sunday roast were sought after by Bob’s school friends for Monday’s lunch....

Christmas brought the house down with the annual stress of the “Christmas Tree”....year after year this required neighbour John Dick’s help to install...the tree....only a “Scottish Pine” would qualify, to then be processed in a closed basement with 6 cans of “aluminum silver” spray paint applied, followed then to be covered with 6-10 cans of spray snow, then the required BLUE LIGHTS ONLY with SILVER DECORATIONS with gifts wrapped in silver or blue ....5 bows per gift. This ritual was anticipated and hated equally yet Mom, Dad, Patti and Bobby, while eating possibly the best shortbread on the planet would sit in the tiny living room and discuss how others were “just jealous”. Mom arrived at each family Christmas surprising us with “this year’s wig”.... We had the Barbara Streisand Wig, the Julie Christie Wig, the Jane Fonda and of course the Shirley Maclean Wig...Of course we captured all this on the our first Polaroid camera.... not one of us would read the instructions...so we got 4 spoiled Polaroids for every one that worked...maybe you get the picture.... Mom added life to our lives...

Bob’s office was on call to send over “Casino $$$$” ...why....because Mom would always win it back... Mom loved sunglasses and was infuriated that the Casino thought her sunglasses were a card reading device because she won on crazy bets.

Mom and Dad only took 1 big trip ...it was to Hawaii... OMG they were staying at “the Sheraton” ...we could not stop talking about the grandeur of it all....of course they got lost...The four of us only took 1 trip ...a driving trip to Portland...of course we got lost and screamed at each other for hours on end...fearing we might have veered off the complicated I-5 every time we couldn’t see the oncoming traffic!!...We finally did find the $7.50 per night motel that Aunty Cathy insisted on....at Lloyd Center....on the trip Bob won $33 at a roadside stop...of course Patti forgot her purse there ...and only noticed 2 hours later...a purse at age 15 ....no different than today....full of every eyeliner, lipstick and perfume you could imagine .....our Dad loved that his daughter was beautiful and that...Mom and Patti were often mistaken for sisters.

We would like to go on and on about our colorful life and thousands of stories....like the one about the PTA meetings where mom wore a green suede suit and a hat...the ever embarrassing hat...however we should let those who knew my Mom cherish and relive your own smiles and experiences.

Instead of a traditional funeral or memorial ....please celebrate our Mom everyday along with us... knowing also that Mom lit up with the mere mention of Katie, Kris, and Stephanie’s names....... Mom was fascinated until her last conscious moments that..... Stephanie made movies, that Katie has moved back to Vancouver to be a pastry chef and that Kris now runs the family business...know that Patti and Mom were great friends and not only looked, but acted like sisters....also that until Mom’s final days, Mom and Patti shared Kentucky Fried Chicken every single Friday night... Bob was always 10 minutes away from his Mom’s side...

Our wish with this obituary is that you see a wonderful life lived and loved and that Margaret Elizebeth Rennie was an original loving soul that is now forever in God’s hands and our hearts....Cecelia and Lai were Mom’s nurses during Mom’s last days at VGH...THANK YOU!....and to all of the Staff and Doctors and emergency room Staff and Doctors who made sure that our Mom was never scared... THANK YOU!....also every single person at the Broadway Pentecostal Home on Granville Island for giving Mom a reason to leave her room...THANK YOU!....and of course Dr. Davey..and Dr. Ramadan for being Mom’s friends...and to Nancy for treating our Mom like she was her own, and to Pastor Tom Cooper for always being a phone call away, and the Tapestry at The O’Keefe for making our Mom feel like a Princess.....

Please make sure that you take the time to say hello to loved ones while they are here....rather than waiting to say goodbye when they are gone.

Please note we will not be accepting flowers. In lieu of flowers, the family appreciates donations made to the Vancouver General Hospital in honor of Margaret.