Margaret Elizabeth (Thomson) Johnstone (1921 - 2019)

Born 11 Jul 1921 in Peace River, Alberta, Canada

Ancestors

Daughter of Kenneth Bown Thomson and Camille Winnifred (Johnston) Thomson

Wife of Donald Macintyre Johnstone — married 6 Sep 1944 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Descendants

Died 5 Aug 2019 at age 98 in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Judith Chidlow [send private message] and Keith Johnstone [send private message]

Biography

Margaret Elizabeth Thomson was born 11 July 1921 in Peace River, Alberta and was baptized 27 Oct in St. James cathedral, Peace River. ^{[1] [2]}

Margaret lived in Peace River until it was time to go to high school. As Margaret and Howe were en route to Edmonton to complete their schooling there, England declared war on Germany. Margaret had been seeing Fred Dorward in Peace River and Edmonton, and they became engaged before Fred went overseas. Marg completed grade 11, then attended McTavish Business College where she took stenography, finishing in 1941. Margaret went to work for Abasand Oil in Edmonton and in 1943 she accepted a transfer to their plant in Fort McMurray where she reported to Don Johnstone.

Margaret fell for Donald, so after long hesitation she wrote Fred the dreaded "Dear John" letter and married Don 6 Sept 1944 in Edmonton.^{[3] [4] [5]} Their first home was a log cabin in Fort McMurray. After the tar sands extraction plant burned in June of 1945, Don found work in Chisholm and they moved there in August. Two children were born in Edmonton while Marg and Don lived in Chisholm Mills. Don and Margaret moved their young family to Faust in June 1948 where Don worked for McRae Lumber under Marg’s father until KB retired in 1950. Their third child was born in High Prairie.

In 1956, the family moved to Edmonton where the family remained until Don got a job in Claresholm, Alberta in 1972. He retired in 1979 and they moved to Nanoose Bay where they stayed until Don needed assisted living in 1987. They chose a home in Coquitlam to live near Judith. Don died early in 1990 and Margaret moved to Calgary during the spring of 1991. ^[6] She returned to Coquitlam about 1997 and remained there until 2006, joining her daughter in Summerland.

DNA matching

Her maternal relationship to her daughter is confirmed by a 3,578.7 cM match between Margaret Thomson GEDmatch A422756 and her daughter Judith Johnstone GEDmatch A506348. Her maternal relationship to her son Keith is confirmed by a match between Margaret Thomson GEDmatch A422756 and her son Keith Keith Johnstone.

Her relationship to her mother is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Judith and her second cousin JI. Their most recent common ancestors are their great grandparents, Samuel Francis Johnston and Elizabeth Howard. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd-3rd Cousins, based on sharing 265 cM across 14 segments.

Sources

1. ↑ Margaret Elizabeth Thomson certificate of birth, registration no. 21-08-009832, Alberta. Department of Health.
2. ↑ Register of St. James, Peace River, Baptisms, n.p., entry for Margaret Elizabeth Thomson; Provincial Archives of Alberta accession 70.387/222 Box 12.
3. ↑ Edmonton Journal, Sept 9, 1944 (picture with caption), also story on page 12 (same issue?)
4. ↑ All Saints Cathedral (Church of England, Edmonton, Alberta), Marriage Certificate, privately held
5. ↑ Donald Macintyre Johnstone - Margaret Elizabeth Thomson marriage certificate (1944), issued 6 September 1944, privately held.
6. ↑ Southern Alberta Land Registration District, Alberta, letter to Margaret E. Johnstone, cover letter for Certificates of Title, 12 Aug 1995.

• Thomson, Margaret, biography, A short biography of Margaret written by Allan Johnstone, privately held.