Marguerite Katherine Sloan

Marguerite Katherine Sloan was born Margaret Katharine Brooks at Carman, Manitoba on February 9, 1923 to Leonard and Lena (Ruston) Brooks. The Brooks family moved from Cypress River, MB to the Nut Mountain, SK area in 1924 eventually settling on a farm on NE 6-36-10-W2 (north of Glengariff School).

When the family moved, Margaret was a little more than a year old. She always remembered riding on the train with her family because a passenger gave her a penny. Having a chubby wee hand, the penny rolled off onto the floor. When she crawled under the seat looking for it, she touched the steam pipe and burnt her hand. That experience remained with her always.

In 1928 her name was unofficially changed from Margaret Katharine to Marguerite Katherine in Grade I at Glengariff School by the teacher who wanted to differentiate the two students with the same name of Margaret. From then on she was known by her new name and never used her birth name again.

The Brooks family moved off the farm in 1931 into Nut Mountain. Seeing the town didn’t have a school, Marguerite went to Omar School which was 3¼ miles south west of town. Winter time saw fathers taking turns driving their children to school by horse and sleigh or closed in cutter. In 1936 the Brooks family moved back to the farm and Marguerite started school at Glengariff again. Syrup or honey pails and jam cans held lunches that were heated on the stove at school. Water was brought in and a dipper was used by all to drink from. Many times she ran to school in bare feet to save her only pair of shoes. Strappings were common for the slightest infraction. Marguerite remembers having her ears pulled so hard they bled and elbowing the teacher in the stomach so hard he never did it again to her. She got strapped for having dirty hands in the mornings. Her hands and fingernails were dirty from her mittens because she had to bring in lumps of coal for the stove before she went to school.

After Grade VIII Marguerite helped at home and worked for neighbours in Nut Mountain and Kelvington doing housework. In the fall of 1939 Marguerite was working for Annie Finnie on the farm during harvest and met Chester Sloan. Chet was a farmer and lived approximately 11 miles north of Kuroki, SK on NE 22-35-11-W2. He courted her with a fine looking team of horses hitched to a buggy. They were married April 6, 1940 and lived in a one room log shack that Chet had built. Marguerite said she had to carry pails of water up a steep hill to the shack as the well was at the bottom of the ravine. She tended the animals with Chet and had a flock of leghorn hens that were her “friends” as there were no close neighbours.

Marguerite said they were poor as most were at that time and had no money. One day she said Chet came to the shack and found her crying on the step. She told him she had absolutely nothing to feed him as there was no food left. He told her he would make a meal. She protested saying there really was nothing in the cupboard. He assured her he would find something. She said she was pretty skeptical but when she went back in the shack, Chet had made bannock. She said it tasted so very good.

Two children were born there – Elaine in 1942 and Blaine in 1945. The last winter in the shack was very hard. The chinking in the walls was falling out because it was so very cold and one morning they awoke to a little snow drift on the foot of the bed. She said the worst though was when the mice would tug at her hair at night trying to get nest building material. In 1946 they purchased SE 36-35-11-W2 which was about 1 mile from Glengariff School from Ezra Egolf and moved in November. Marguerite then drew up plans for a new house and in 1949 the family moved into it. There were some very hard times with no money to spare. She said one day they found a nickel on the ground in the grass and they danced around because they were “rich”. They could now buy a stamp for a letter to Chet’s sister. They did the usual things most farmers did: milked cows and shipped cream, raised cattle, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigs. Oh how she hated pigs! She said the only time she liked pigs was when they were pink and small or on her plate as pork chops or bacon!

In 1953 there was an addition to the family. Dianne was born in November and then Graham in 1955. There were happy times and sad times. Elaine was married in September 1961, then Blaine passed away on March 30, 1962 from nephritis. Marguerite was a busy lady with her huge vegetable and flower gardens, milking cows, and tending chickens and family. She belonged to the Co-op Guild, was an avid knitter knitting for family and articles for sale, taught quilting, aided by instructions from the University of Saskatchewan. One winter she quilted on 56 quilts made by the ladies in her quilting circle.

More land was purchased closer to Kelvington in 1972 and a new house was built. She painted and decorated her new home. The big move was made in 1977 to NE 5-36-11-W2. More flower beds and a vegetable garden were made. Marguerite had many friends in the Nut Mountain, Kelvington, and Glengariff communities. Dancing was also a favourite of hers. Even though Chet did not dance because of physical restraints, they went to many dances together where Marguerite danced her feet off. She was still dancing at 99 years old.

Chet’s passing in May 2000 at 97 years was a devastating blow to Marguerite. Her lifelong partner was gone and she was alone for the first time. She greatly missed him but her life had to adapt. Unfortunately, she was getting dementia and could not do all the work, planning, and maintenance on the farm. Dianne moved home in 2009 to help her giving her time to do more of the things she liked to do. She enjoyed their trips to lily shows and having help on the farm. In the fall of 2017, Marguerite was helping Dianne in the garden, got tired, and tripped, falling on the garage floor breaking her hip. Once she recovered, she was out in the gardens again.

Marguerite was always there for her family, friends and neighbours. She made many quilts for neighbours’ children who graduated high school or got married. Her own family also received her knitted articles and quilts. Visitors to the farm never went home without something – vegetables from her ample gardens, canned goods, baking, a bouquet of flowers, or a plant that she dug up that they had admired. She was instrumental in the refurbishing of Glengariff School and helped look after it from then on to welcome visitors each summer. She could be seen wiping off dusty desks, sweeping up flies or washing the windows. She looked forward to the annual picnics there, always taking her delicious potato salad and a sweet of some sort.

Marguerite was a very capable person having worked extremely hard all her life starting out from scratch. She was strong, diligent, generous, and took responsibility seriously. However, she did not like pomp and circumstance directed her way such as birthday parties and the like. She was tenacious. She was out weeding and picking little stones in the gardens even at 100 years old. When she was unable to go outside she would ask if she could help anyway. She had a great sense of humor, teasing, playing games and little tricks on her children and grandchildren, dressing up for Halloween, and telling jokes.

In the evening of December 16, 2023 Marguerite suffered a stroke which daughter Dianne caught within a minute or two of it occurring. She was rushed to the Yorkton Hospital then to Regina General. When the stroke doctor came into the room and asked Marguerite how she was doing, her reply was, “I’m not dead yet!” which took the doctor by surprise. She was sent to Kelvington Hospital then Kelvindell Lodge on January 4, 2024. How she hated the Lodge! She wanted to be home bird watching, petting her kitties, and seeing the gardens grow. She would say she wished she could go home with Dianne to help do some weeding. In August she survived COVID. On October 28th, she voted for the last time in the provincial election. She said women were given the right to vote and that it was important to get out and vote every time. And, that she did!

On January 30, 2025, Marguerite passed away 12 days before her 102nd birthday from complications due to a drug buildup in her body and pneumonia. Upon her request, she was cremated with no funeral as she said all the friends and family her age were dead.

Marguerite was predeceased by her husband’s parents Marcel & Rosalia (Wrubleski) Nedjelski, parents Len and Lena Brooks, son Blaine (1962), husband Chester (2000), sister Edna (pre 1924), brothers Mathew (Beatrice), Ellis (Frances), and Ronald (Marjorie), all Chester’s siblings and their spouses save one, and son-in-law Roger Gregoire.

Marguerite is survived by her daughters Elaine and Dianne of Kelvington, son Graham of Legal, AB, brother Wallace (Gloria) of Nakusp, BC, sister-in law Annabell Nedjelski of Sturgis, SK, grandchildren Kathie (Bill) of Edmonton, AB, Kelvin (Kathy) of Allan, SK, Kyle (Kelly) of Amhurstburg, ON, Kerry (Dave) of Spruce Grove, AB, Brooke (Ryan) of Grande Prairie, AB, Chelsea of St. Albert, AB, 11 great grandchildren and 7 great, great grandchildren, plus numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a ‘Celebration of Life’ for Marguerite on Friday, August 1, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Glengariff School 6 miles south and 4½ miles east of Kelvington. The Glengariff School district was where her family lived, where she went to school, and where most of her friends resided. Please join family to celebrate Marguerite’s long life and please relate your stories of knowing her. Lunch will be served. Please bring a lawn chair if possible to sit outside for visiting, otherwise, come as you are.

Donations in Marguerite’s Memory can be made to: 

Kinsmen Foundation/TeleMiracle

2217C Hanselman Court, Saskatoon, SK, S7L 6A8

or

Nature Saskatchewan

206-1860 Lorne St., Regina, SK, S4P 2L7