HASTINGS, Margaret
September 4, 1928 – September 16, 2023
Margaret Fisher was born September 4, 1928 in Lenzie, a small town outside Glasgow, Scotland. During the war the family lived in London England and Margaret and her brother Jack would sleep under the stairs to avoid bombardments during the Blitz. Margaret completed her secondary education at an English boarding school under spartan conditions. There, she tried to abandon her Scots accent to blend in (a feat she successfully accomplished after immigrating to Canada).
After graduation, Margaret obtained a certificate in hospitality management, and embarked on the most adventurous phase of her life, working at hotels in Canada (Vancouver, Banff and Port Stanley), Guernsey and Jamaica. While in Jamaica, she was introduced to a handsome Canadian engineer, Bruce Hastings.
After a partly long-distance courtship, Margaret and Bruce married in Scotland on January 3, 1956. The newlyweds settled in London Ontario, where Bruce was establishing his consulting engineering business. Lesley was born in December and John followed 18 months later.
Margaret always embraced an active lifestyle. She often bicycled before it was popular, including once to a car dealership to buy a car. She loved playing tennis with her group of loyal friends. She played tennis until an injury forced her to put down her racquet at age 83. She always enjoyed lunches with her tennis friends until shortly before her death and she avidly followed this year’s US Open. She also loved skiing and was a fixture on the London Ski Bus.
Margaret was a great cook and an accomplished hostess. She and Bruce developed a keen interest in wine which led to much travel including South Africa, Argentina, and of course all the European wine countries. Those travels resulted in many life-long friendships. Through travel, Margaret was able to rediscover the adventurous spirit that took her on international assignments in her hotel career.
The topic of friendship can’t be left without mentioning Susan Agranove. Her husband Larry was Bruce’s closest friend and the two couples often socialized together. But it wasn’t until after Larry’s death that the bond between Susan and Margaret really strengthened, and even more so after Bruce’s death. Susan was Margaret’s good friend and often her caregiver.
As a mother, Margaret was more of the “free-range” than the “helicopter” persuasion. She definitely embraced the role of grandmother to Jennifer, Megan, Evan and Alan and great-grandmother to Rosalie and Dominic.
In July Margaret suffered a hip fracture in a fall. Her comeback from that was a testament to her feistiness and determination. A few days after her return from rehabilitation she was the star of a party to celebrate her 95th birthday, attended by family members, long-time friends and many of her friends from Amica London.
Sadly, her heart was not up to the challenge of resuming her full life at Amica, and on September 16 she died of complications of heart failure, with family who admired and loved her very much at her side.
Family and friends of Margaret are invited to a memorial reception at Harris Funeral Home, 220 St. James Street at Richmond on Saturday, October 7 from 2-4 p.m.