Obituary of Margaret Rose Hartwell
HARTWELL
Margaret Rose (nee Lott)
February 11, 1941 – October 12, 2024
With heavy hearts, we announce the peaceful passing of Margaret Rose at her home in Perth, Ontario on Saturday October 12, 2024. She was 83 years old.
Margaret was a quiet woman of great faith who was the heartbeat of our family. She was born in Belleville Ontario and was the youngest child of her beloved mother Rachel and father Gilbert Lott. Her older brother Alfred (Shirley) and sister Shelba (Joe) have many stories to share of their antics in the early days growing up in Belleville. Margaret attended the Calvary Pentecostal Church as a child and went on to attend Eastern Pentecostal Bible College as a young adult.
This is where Margaret became “Maggie”. She met and fell in love with Donald Hartwell and was the apple of his eye. This was to be the beginning of a love affair that lasted 58 years. In the subsequent years, their three children Yvonne (David), Steven and Tim (Junea) were born. As the children grew, the family enjoyed many adventures travelling on countless road trips with extended family, enjoying their cottage at Cobourg Pentecostal Camp and spending many summers camping at Stayner Missionary Camp. Margaret was a wonderful hostess always welcoming others into their home be it church friends on Sunday evening or all the kids in the neighbourhood. Her good natured spirit made everyone feel right at home.
As a young woman, Margaret worked for the Pentecostal Benevolent Association of Canada head office after graduating from Bible College. Margaret shared her culinary skills as a cook at Teen Challenge Ministry in Toronto and also on the “Heavenbound” and “Stormcalmer” ships who ran programs for youth in challenging circumstances.
Margaret ministered to people of all ages, first working with Wee College children’s program, as well as a young Children’s program at their church and by turning their 5 bedroom home in Colborne into a “Mission House” to help the needs of many others. Margaret also helped to open “The place to be” in their 2 story barn for street youth that needed a new start in life. Margaret helped run a Christian youth program for dozens of young people, helped start a new work with youth in their living room which became the Northumberland Chapter of Youth for Christ. When she had a few free minutes, she helped run a “coats for Kids” program in their hometown of Colborne, Ontario.
Margaret would often be found in her beautiful garden tending to her many flowers or picking raspberries for her pies and jams. Margaret had a love of animals whether they were her own, those of her children, or the wandering neighbourhood cat Romeo whose visit she would look forward to every day.
In her later years, Margaret took on one of her favourite roles as a loving and doting grandmother to Heather (Mike), Aidan (Hannah), Hilary, Gillian, Christel, Danyell, William and Sadie. Her most recent joy was found in her only great grandchild, in her words “a beautiful bouncing baby boy”, Wesley. She will be dearly missed by her grandchildren at each of the milestones in their lives which she would always take pride in celebrating with them. Her presence will be especially missed at Christmas time when tradition called for Christmas baking days where we all made her homemade sugar jam cookies and donuts together. She has left a beautiful legacy of love in each of them.
The family would like to acknowledge the invaluable help of the teams of caregivers from Bayshore and Nurse Next door and especially Mayta, her dedicated caregiver over the past many months. The compassion and love shown to Margaret and Donald sustained them and supported them right to the end of Marg’s journey. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Friends may pay their respects at the Blair & Son Funeral Home, 15 Gore St. W., Perth on Friday October 18th, 2024 from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. Funeral service will be held in the chapel on Saturday October 19th, 2024 at 10:30 A.M. Interment, Scotch Line Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Margaret’s name to the Perth & Smiths Falls District Hospital Foundation (Perth site) or the or “The Gideons”
