Margaret Irene Leslie (née Rigby) was born in Whitley Bay, England to Molly and Harry Rigby on July 3, 1934. Her early childhood was happily spent playing in the Devon countryside with her older brother Mike. Pippa, her sister, was born when she was 12. Margaret loved life, preferring horses to school. As a young woman, she worked at Harrod’s in London. In 1957, she flew to Canada to visit her brother in Winnipeg who introduced her to his new friend, Ken Leslie. They were immediately smitten and Ken soon proposed. They married on September 13th, 1958. Timothy Kenneth was born 9 months later, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. They moved to Hamilton a year later and Stephen James was born in 1962.
In 1968, after 13 moves, they purchased an old stone barn in Dundas and renovated it to create their home. She found great joy and friends through her farm animals – her goats Morag and Bronwyn, donkeys Deirdre and Clodagh, angora goat Hamish, Gwillym the dog, and many more. Later, Ophelia, the pot bellied pig, became a memorable fixture, preferring to live in the house. Tim’s son Simon was their first grandchild, who spent his early years in the “hayloft” apartment in the Old Barn. Jamie and Ingrid married and had Sean and Colin. Tim married Geraldine and had Nathaniel, Nicholas and Sophie. Gran & Gramps enjoyed fun, close relationships with all of them.
Ken was the love of her life. He strengthened her Christian faith which they celebrated at many churches. They had 50 happy years together along with many close friends and great vacations with her English family. Her spirit, warmth and sometimes irreverent sense of humour always made people laugh and feel comfortable.
She was deeply saddened when Ken died in 2009, but settled into her new life with the support of family and friends. The last few years were spent at Highgate in Ancaster, where she shared her last sparks with the wonderful caring staff there. She died on September 23 in her sleep.
A memorial service will be held at 2pm on Saturday October 17th at St. Cuthbert’s Presbyterian Church, 2 Bond St, Hamilton. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Micah House (micahhouse.ca), an organization Ken helped build.