Obituary of Margaret Summerville

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, Margaret Summerville (nee Anthony) on March 24th at age 93. Until only a few weeks before her passing, she lived independently and just a few years ago she was still line dancing and attending exercise classes with her friends. Mom was born to George and Lillian and  grew up in Wallington Surrey,  England and, as you can see by her age, she was a child during WWII. Her stories of sitting in the bomb shelter for most of her school days and waiting for her mom to arrive to pick her up in the afternoon were told as reminders of how our lives can be structured by forces over which we have very little control. Yet, her mom and dad tried to make the best of life in war and post-war England and gave her the dance lessons she craved that led her to an extraordinary life. At the age of 14, Margaret was recruited to become a Tiller Girl, a dance troupe that is still famous in Britain. She danced in all the great theatres in London and throughout England including the London Palladium. She worked on the same stage with Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, the Nicholas Brothers, the Crazy Gang and many of the other greats of the variety theatre. She travelled to South Africa with the troupe, she danced at Princess Margaret’s birthday party (the one depicted in the Crown series) and she performed in a number of Royal Command Performances. She made many dear friends in those years including Sandra, Eileen and Riggy. Despite all of the glamour, she was humble, very humble, about her adventures and there was always one tinge of regret that she harboured which was that she had to leave school.  The extra income, during the post-war years, helped to support her family and she took great pride in that important contribution. Our mom left show business after she married our dad they came to Canada.  Paul, the oldest of us siblings, was only a few weeks old when they arrived. Mom and Dad built a life in Toronto and in Scarborough where we moved in 1969. It didn't take her long to become a true Canadian as she fell in love with hockey after her first Toronto Maple Leaf's game and was even in attendance at Maple Leaf Gardens when the Leafs last won the cup in 1967. Mom was a stay-at-home parent for many years until she found a great job at the Metro Toronto Zoo where she worked in the gift store and then drove the monorail that wound its way through the zoo. She loved working there but did confess that the monorail job got a bit boring sometimes especially when the animals did not cooperate when they failed to show up as they train went by. She confessed, many years later, that she would, very occasionally, point to non-existent animals by saying, "Oh, look out the left window and you will see a (fill in the blank with an animal species). Oh sorry, it went behind a tree." But that was her all over. She was a very private person, sometime prudish, but always with a mischievous streak and hilariously funny with her quips and one-line zingers. At my dad's memorial, as we stood at the grave site, after a song and reading of a psalm, in the still quiet she leaned in over the grave and said, "I'll be back." As was / is always the case, the Summervilles stood howling with laughter at the most inappropriate time. Well mom is now back with her family, mom and dad and sister (Audrey) as well our dad (Paul) and all her friends and beloved pets (Sandy x2, Whiskey, Bobby etc...).   

Finally, we would like to add that mom adored her family and was fiercely proud of her children (Paul, Orianna and Tracy). She felt a very deep love for Taeko, Werner and Keith as well as her grandchildren (Michael, Analiese and Neyve) and her great grandchildren (Léa and Gabriel). She loved Klara (Michael's wife) and Koen (Analiese's fiancé) and on her last day expressed her deepest joy - that we are all happy and leading rich lives.

Our mom, our Margaret, will be deeply missed.