Margaret King Struthers

KING STRUTHERS, Margaret Margaret King Struthers passed away in Montreal on December 14, 2017, at the age of 85. She was born on April 9, 1932, in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, attended the Convent of Sion in Prince Albert, and completed a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature) at the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Journalism at Carleton University. She was a newspaper woman all her life, writing for the Winnipeg Free Press, the Ottawa Citizen and Journal Première Édition, Vaudreuil. An Ottawa highlight was interviewing the dancer Josephine Baker. In 1960, with her late husband David Struthers, she moved to Hudson, Quebec, becoming a lifelong resident. Margaret was passionate, imbued with energy, and avant-garde. A single mother of six children, she was head of the Hudson Historical Society, a founder of Hudson Women's World, and, as a lover of arts and beauty, a decades-long attendee and member of the Hudson Player's Club, the Hudson Garden Club, the Hudson Village Theatre and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She was a co-leader of humanities and literature courses at the Thomas More Institute in Montreal. She had journeyed around the world by her mid-twenties, and, always ahead of her time, acquired a Macintosh (Apple) computer when it appeared in the 1980s. Her house in the woods, with its abundant flower and vegetable gardens, butterflies, foxes, raccoons, deer, birds and squirrels, was her sanctuary, inspiration, and place of reverie. An innate environmentalist, she took up natural foods and recycling long before they were mainstreamed. Margaret was the eldest daughter of Katie Malinowski (nee Dobrowney, born in the Model Farm district of Saskatchewan), and Ah King, who came to Canada from mainland China. She was sister to Shirley Spafford of Saskatoon; the very beloved mother of Karen Struthers, Hudson, Rolf (Andrea Rosen) Struthers, Toronto, Sonia (John Prendergast) Struthers, Westmount, Sean (Sherry Chiu) Struthers, Bangkok, Marie Struthers, London, UK, and Nadine Struthers, Toronto; cherished grandmother of Kelly, Clara, Paul, Tobias, Naomi and Ashley; and constant friend of many. A commemorative service will be held on Thursday, December 28, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Hudson, QC. Interment will take place at the Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to NOVA Hudson.