This memorial website was created in memory of Margaret Fulton.
A full life lived with exceptional accomplishments, Margaret Fulton exuded a rare zest for living and learning that had a profound impact on everyone who knew her.
Dr. Fulton to her peers, Margaret to her friends, and Aunt Peg to her family will be missed, but remembered by all.
A Celebration of Life for Margaret was held at the Salt Spring United Church (111 Hereford Ave, Ganges) on Saturday February 8th.
Friends and family attended a reception following the Service at Harbour House Hotel.
The text of the eulogy has been added to the 'Her Life' section of this site
The Fulton Family thanks everyone that came to the Church and reception following to celebrate Margaret's life
Interment occurred on June 21st in Birtle, Manitoba.
Service was at the Birtle Cemetary
Tributes
Leave a tributeMss you always and forever.
Sylvia
On this day as on many days, miss your company, your sense of fun, your wisdom, and your intense love of justice and fruit buns. I miss the Gang of Four gatherings on Salt Spring, the sharing of stories and the many, many laughs at the world's craziness. Your insights would be so welcome in these even crazier times. You are one of a kind and the mould was tossed away after you, my good friend and valued colleague. Susan
Continuing to be grateful for your work and your friendship, Carol
I still think of you constantly, sharing your life of accomplishments and contribution to women of the world when the opportunity arise.
I still miss your laughter and kindness.
How wonderful it would have been to greet you Happy 100th Birthday today.
Your memory will forever be special to me.
Miss you as always
Sylvia
Silent memories keep you near,
As time unfolds another year,
No longer in our lives to share,
But in our hearts you are always there.
Missed by All - Sheldon, Lil and our BSMART crew and families
Sunshine passes, shadows fall.
Love’s remembrance outlasts all,
And though the years be many or few,
They are filled with remembrance of you.
Sheldon, Lil and the BSMART crew
Margaret still has much to teach us. She has left an important legacy
I miss her.
Carol Matthews
Remembering you on the 97th anniversary of your birth.
Your laughter, your kindness and friendship will be remembered forever with fondness.
You are dearly missed. Wish you were still here.
Today recalls the memory
Of a loved one gone to rest,
And those who think of her today
Are those who loved her best.
The flowers we lay upon her grave
May wither and decay,
But the love for her who lies beneath
Will never fade away.
Lovingly remembered by Sheldon, Lil and the BSMART crew
Just the other day Trish Keays and I were talking about you and your inspirational alternative leadership structures. Your work carries on and many of us speak of you often. You are missed! Much of what's happening in the world would depress you, but the Women's March would inspire you and you'd be out there marching with us. Thanks for your wonderful friendship. Your spirit continues to inspire us!
A life well lived is a precious gift,
of hope and strength and grace,
from someone who has made our world
a brighter, better place.
It's filled with moments, sweet and sad
with smiles and sometimes tears,
with friendships formed and good times shared,
and laughter through the years.
A life well lived is a legacy,
of joy and pride and pleasure,
a living, lasting memory
our grateful hearts will treasure.
Always in our thoughts - Sheldon, Lil and the BSMART crew
Our Family circle has been broken,
A link gone from our chain;
But though we are parted for a while,
We know we will meet again.
Some day we hope to meet you,
Some day, we know not when,
We shall meet in a better place
And never part again.
We shall meet with many a loved one
That was torn from our embrace;
We shall listen to their voices,
And behold them face to face.
Sunshine passes, shadows fall,
Love's remembrance outlasts all.
Sheldon, Lil and the BSMART crew & families
One year has passed and remembering you is easy,
We do it every day.
Missing you is the hardest part,
It never goes away.
To hear your voice, to see your smile,
To sit with you and talk awhile,
To be together in the same old way,
Would be our dearest wish today.
Today, tomorrow, our whole lives through,
We shall always love and remember you.
Always in our hearts - Sheldon, Lil and the BSMART crew
She is so alive in my consciousness, commenting in her usual insightful,
ascerbic but positive ways on all that is happening in our crazy world. I hear
her voice and laugh so often when something idiotic is happening in this
old world, which is most of the time.
Yes, I miss her immediacy, but someone as vibrant and bigger than life as she was, never leaves us.
Susan McDaniel, Ph.D., FRSC
Canada Research Chair in Global Population & Life Course
University of Lethbridge
She has been and will be a wonderful inspiration of tenacity, courage and vision especially for women in leadership. Hopefully thanks to her efforts men will no longer outnumber women to the same degree in many institutions. She will be missed but her contributions live on....
my parents were prairie pioneers
Margaret was a pioneer too in many fields
i appreciated her prairie wit and manner
I'm very grateful to the many family and friends who helped Margaret through the terrible car accident and other trials, so that she was able to lead such a healthy, active life, well into her senior years. I hope, wherever you are now, Margaret, you know we love you and you are well and happy!
Fast forward to the Nineties, and a silver-haired woman bounds up to me at an NDP fund-raiser. “Michelle! Remember me? Peggy Fulton!” Well how could I forget? Still the same energy, still the same forthright voice and hearty laugh, still the same convictions. It was not long after that I asked if I could make a documentary about her. Margaret’s first response was why on earth would anybody want to fund a film about her, let alone watch it? When I said it would be about the ideas that propelled her through life, about structural change and societal transformation…well, we were off to the races! And as it turned out, many wanted to see it made: television commissions from Knowledge Network, Saskatchewan Communications Network, CTV affiliate CFCF 12 in Montreal, Vision TV, Secretary of State (Status of Women), Department of Heritage (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada), BC Arts Council, and private donors. And what an adventure I had, tracking Margaret to places far and wide—Norway, Switzerland, England, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, and Salt Spring Island. She was a real trooper, even helping me pack heavy gear back to Vancouver when my camera crew had left on earlier flights. Afterwards, when I sent a video copy of “A Round Peg” to SSHRCC, they encouraged me to apply for a second grant to make a User Guide that further explored Margaret’s ideas on structural change. It was quite funny to hear the Ottawa-based SSHRCC bureaucrat say: “Lord knows, we in government sure could use a guide to transforming the hierarchy!” With the help of Margaret and some accomplished women working to effect change in their respective organizations, “Connecting the Dots” Guide was published; together the film and guide are now with libraries and community groups across Canada and abroad. Margaret is no longer with us, but fortunately some of her vitality, wit, and vision remain on film, rallying us to carry on the good fight. Margaret’s family has asked that I provide contact information for anyone wanting to obtain the DVD “A Round Peg”. You can find it through www.movingimages.ca or 1-800-684-3014 (604-684-3014 in Vancouver).
Extraordinarily kind and generous, Peggy had an invincible craving for justice and fought fiercely and cleverly, but always fairly, for the causes in which she believed. Although her memory was as clear as a bell, she was incapable of harbouring a grudge. I’ll miss all that, but what I’ll miss most of all, and terribly, are her passionate joy of life, her hearty laughter, her genuine friendliness and compassion. To her family and friends, may I express my deep sorrow at your loss. I share your grief.
Two things I remember most: her laugh and her love of teaching.
Her laugh was infectious and very calming...she was genuinely fond of us and our attempts to make her laugh were always rewarded!
Secondly, she used to get very excited by having a piece of chalk in her hand and said it reminded her of being in elementary school again!!! I loved her...and built my own teaching career on her modelling. The world has lost a very good soul.
"Margaret Fulton was a dear friend and a Board member of the Women's World Summit Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland. She contributed so much to our learning curve on circles and the transformation of hierarchical structures and systems, which no longer serve humanity's quest for equality, development and peace. She was such fun and knew how to have a good time, but always stayed focused to the values she lived. We pray that she will continue supporting us in creating a world that works for everyone.
Loads of love dear, dear Margaret. We will not forget your great spirit.
Margaret was a powerful woman but it came naturally to her to use her influence for others. Later, when I heard she had come from a farming community in Birtle, Manitoba, I understood how she had come to be so rich in character and integrity.
So, when I was invited to join the Book Club that Margaret was a part of on Salt Spring Island, I was very excited to be included in this elite group. And then the discussions began. Margaret would come into a meeting prepared with her premise laid out, her ideas prepared, bringing to us all the background that she had accumulated for decades and decades of her life. Her influence stimulated us to look at what we were reading more carefully and with a broader perspective. She always brought in references to other thinkers and writers from Margaret MacMillan to George Eliot. Oh how I will miss her wit and humour.
I got to know Margaret best, however, through her love of my Heritage Spartan apples that I grew on my property on Rainbow Rd. I would drop a bag off to her and she would relate how much she enjoyed them and really used them. Then we would talk about all the things I was doing, always encouraging me, giving me contacts, ideas, readings.
When I was making a short documentary film about the Canadian Women's Peace Movement, it was totally natural that Margaret would be a part of that film. When I interviewed her, there was little need for questions because she just took it on and talked. Anyone who knows Margaret, also knows how she can talk.
I loved the way she gathered young people around her and revelled in their successes. I loved her spiritual presence and her activist approach to life. A staunch Provincial NDP supporter, it did not ever prevent her from criticizing their direction and the letters would fly.
Oh, how we will remember her,miss her and be inspired by her.
Marion Pape, friend
Margaret often came to Nanaimo for meetings, conferences, and to give guest lectures at Malaspina College, now Vancouver Island University. She was given an honorary doctorate from Malaspina and gave a speech that prompted an immediate standing ovation. She was often at the Cowichan Campus of Malaspina and donated a large collection of her books to the library. She was always interested in hearing about the work we were doing. She was very generous with her time and I don’t remember her ever saying no when she was asked to participate or help out. The students loved her, as did the rest of us.
I was fortunate to be able to travel to Norway with her for the 10th anniversary of Kvinneuniversitteet, the women's university where Margaret had spent some time in the early days of its development, bringing to it her structure of interlocking circles. Clearly she was greatly adored and admired in that country as well.
Despite her many honours, Margaret’s behavior never changed; she was friendly, humble, practical and very down to earth. She was a wonderful friend to a many and she was a great support in times of trouble. I’m glad I was in frequent contact with her and I’m grateful for all she gave me throughout the almost 24 years of our friendship.
When my husband Mike died two years ago, Margaret phoned several times, as well as sending cards and emails. In looking through my emails I found two messages from that time with quotations that I think meant a lot to her and both seem very appropriate at this time::
There is Providence in the fall of a sparrow.
If it be now, 'tis not to come;
If it be not to come, it will be now,
If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.
(Shakespeare)
and
As you said last evening, Mike has left us too soon, You especially will have to learn to deal with that, but time will help. When I woke up this morning , I was thinking about Mike, and strangely some lines if Milton ran in my head. I'll share them with you:
Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail
Or knock the breast, no weakness, no contempt,
Dispraise, or blame, nothing but well and fair,
And what may quiet us in a death so noble.
Margaret’s life was a noble one indeed. We will miss her sorely but can feel that she was ready and that there is nothing here for tears. She gives us cause for great celebration.
Leave a Tribute
Mss you always and forever.
Sylvia
The Fulton Hotel & Salon
I got a call from the local physiotherapist on SaltSpring Island 10 years ago to come in for an interview with a client who needed to transition from acute care to the next level. I was tasked to introduce movement, the gradual return to life, & maintain independent living. Suffice to say I passed the interview & spent the next 10 years seeing Margaret every week on Mon/Wed/Frid’s @ 11am. As the Manitoba farm girl, she was quite philosophical about pain, recovery, daily existence & doing whatever it took to get better.
Early on I shared that I lived in a geodesic dome & that clinched the deal between us. Margaret was a huge Buckminster Fuller fan having seen him speak on the grass @ Jericho in the 70’s, & having an ephiphany at that time. I am honored to have her copy of Bucky’s book in my collection & will always cherish it.
The Fulton Hotel & Salon
I don’t know anyone, young or old, who had as many guests as her. She hosted hundreds of people. Overnight, over lunch, over the phone, over a glass of wine...
Everybody wanted a piece of her, & it was wearing on her as she couldn’t say no.
Quite remarkable to have students from 30,40, & 50 years ago calling her up or dropping in to talk.
My role expanded over time, as required. We liked to call it the ever increasing job description. From computer tech, handyman, chauffeur (yes miss daisy), & the family tree memory back-up. I also enjoyed being the queen’s taster throughout the changing seasons as we ate our way around the neighborhood on our mid day walks quoting prose as the situation demanded & greeting passersby with a wave & a smile.
A common interest was our love of Nature & the marine environment with the appropriate literary quote to fit the occasion, "nature is never spent".
At the end, & I was with her on another sunny walk to the duck pond when she had a stroke, & she was ready to go. My task was complete, keeping her in her own home @ her upstairs desk with the lovely view down the harbour.
She had had a “good run”, “a full life”, “no regrets”.
May we all be so lucky to find a way out when the time is nigh....
With the utmost respect,
Kinesiologist, ol'buddy & friend,
Bruce Grey
SaltSpring Exercise Therapy
"Better Late than Never"
Later rather than sooner, I was introduced to Margaret by her sister-in-law, Marion Fulton, of Birtle, Manitoba. when I retired to Salt Spring Island in 2000 (post-World President) Marion having given years of service as Canadian Area President of Associated Countrywomen of the World. Margaret and I "clicked" immediately - her incisive intellect, her sharp wit and acute sense of humour led to regular get-togethers over unorthodox bridge, convivial meals and all-embracing discussions - we became firm friends and was made to feel by both Margaret and Marion, almost part of the Fulton extended family.. Though I shall surely miss Margaret, we can rejoice in knowing that she led a full and rewarding life bringing hope and encouragement to the large number of young women she inspired throughout her formidable academic life and much fun and laughter to everyone with whom she engaged.
Aye, Lyndsay (Hacket Pain Mundy) Salt Spring Island, BC