October 5, 1936 – December 6, 2024
It is with sadness we announce the peaceful passing of our mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend, Margaret (Peggy) Emily Gemmell (nee Lemon) in Barrie, Ontario on Friday, December 6, 2024, with her daughters by her side.
Peggy leaves to mourn her sister Ruth, best friend Jeannette, daughters Susan, Nancy (Glen), and Cathy (Mauro); grandchildren Mara (Kevin), Elizabeth (Mark), Monica, Esther (Elman), Dylan, Jay (Taryn), and Ezra. Her special relationship with granddaughter Monica and with great-grandsons Harrison and Ethan gave her much joy. Peggy was predeceased by her husband Ted, sister Laurie, son-in-law Dennis (Nancy), and parents Bruce and Nellie Lemon .
Peggy was born in October 1936 and raised in Northwestern Ontario, where her father was a Hudson’s Bay Post manager. The family settled in the 1940s in the Red Lake area where they lived in the communities of McKenzie Island and Cochenour. Photos show a happy baby and girl. At elementary school on McKenzie Island Peggy met Jeannette Pavlovic (now Pauplis), who became her lifelong best friend. Peggy and Jeannette share memories of life in a Canadian mining community in the 1940s and 50s. In this small but busy community Peggy participated in Brownies and Guides, school assemblies, dances, and church activities. Peggy learned to paint, draw, and play the piano. She was an avid curler, had a large group of friends, and even competed in a beauty pageant.
But the big city called to Peggy. In her youth she visited family and friends in Winnipeg, and when she was all of 18 years old, she moved the 2000+km from Cochenour to Toronto. There, she lived downtown, studied modeling and secretarial skills, and began working as a temporary secretary. One temp gig took her to Rothman’s Cigarettes, where she met her first husband, Reg Gemmell. In July 1960 Peggy and Reg were married at Cochenour United Church. Their first apartment was in the brand new Thorncliffe Park apartments and that was where they started their family. Three girls (Susan, Nancy, Cathy) were born within 30 months between 1962 and 1964. In 1963 they bought their first home in the newly developed Jane-Finch community.
Peggy embraced motherhood in her own unique fashion. She channeled her love of fashion and art into sewing and decorating. Her daughters were often completely dressed in clothes sewn by mom, sometimes in matching colours and fabrics. She was an active member of two local churches and left her mark through participation on committees and in the music of the church, including founding a junior choir at the new University Presbyterian church and designing and sewing striking orange and blue gowns for the singers.
In the early 1970s Peggy found her calling as an activist when she helped to stop a proposed high-rise development at Jane and Finch, which at the time was already being filled with high rise towers. From there, Peggy began decades of community involvement, working with community organizations, volunteering in local schools, and eventually becoming a North York school trustee in the late 1970s. Peggy’s career as a typesetter and graphic artist grew out of her creation of the first Jane-Finch community newspaper, which she started in the basement of her home. During the time that Peggy ran her typesetting shop, employees were often friends or family, including her daughters. She moved like a whirlwind in those years, juggling the business, her political career, single parenting, and a relationship with the man who became her second husband, Ted Zealand.
Peggy was not by nature an extravert, but she did enjoy people, especially young people. Friends of her daughters were influenced by Peggy’s warm, non-judgemental, dynamic, and welcoming ways. Some of those friends say now they thought of Peggy as the “cool” mom.
In the 1990s Peggy and Ted left Toronto and took on a new project – renovating an old schoolhouse near Minesing, Ontario. The schoolhouse had been a biker gang clubhouse and was condemned when they bought it. Slowly they transformed the building into a beautiful home. At the same time, Peggy became involved in the local community including the Simcoe County Arts and Crafts Association (SCACA), the Simcoe County Museum, and the Royal Victoria Hospital where Peggy worked as a volunteer for years, both before and after her lengthy illness.
In a way, the last 24 years of Peggy’s life were a miracle. In September 2000 Peggy collapsed with what was eventually diagnosed as severe, acute, necrotizing pancreatitis. She spent most of a year in hospital, many weeks on a ventilator in ICU, and underwent multiple procedures and surgeries before returning home in 2001 dependant on insulin and enzymes. She survived with the help of excellent medical care at the Royal Victoria Hospital and in Toronto, and with the love and tremendous support of her family, especially her husband Ted, who visited twice a day every day and who advocated for Peggy all through her illness. Ironically, a few short years later, Ted was himself a patient in the same ICU after he suffered a heart attack during his daily gym workout. Sadly, Ted’s heart was irreparably damaged, and he died in hospital in July 2003.
The loss of Ted deeply affected Peggy, but she was also notoriously able to weather whatever life threw at her. She certainly did not ever “retire,” as she continued to produce newsletters and graphics for SCACA, the Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO), and other clients. In her seventies she obtained a certificate in grant writing and used her education to secure grants for the Simcoe County Museum and for a community kitchen project at Burton Avenue United Church. She never, ever stopped learning or getting involved, and was always quick to offer an opinion about the latest government policy or changes in the City of Barrie.
After Ted’s death, Peggy was drawn closely into the orbit of her daughter Cathy and her family in Barrie. Cathy was Peggy’s right hand, her supporter, sometimes her manager, her confidante and companion. With Cathy’s help, Peggy continued to live independently and richly and to adapt to the changes that aging brought. Cathy and her family welcomed Peggy, and included her on outings, trips, and many, many family gatherings. Cathy made it possible for Peggy to see three of her grandchildren married, to visit a donkey sanctuary, to walk alpacas, to shop, to go to the library, to make her own life for as long as she could.
About 18 months ago Peggy received a diagnosis of Lewy Body dementia. As this disease slowly robbed her of physical and cognitive abilities, Peggy and Cathy pivoted and pivoted again. They adapted with assisted living, with walkers and wheelchairs, with homecare, with Alexa, with cell phone apps, and finally with a move to Victoria Village Long-Term Care where Peggy spent the last nine months of her life.
Peggy’s family are thankful to all who helped her over these last years: the tech support staff who patiently answered her questions about computer, cell, and internet; the RNs and PSWs at Simcoe County Homecare Services who became her friends and watched out for her; and the staff at Balmoral House, Victoria Village, who cheered her and cared for her physical needs when they became too great to manage on her own.
We will celebrate Peggy’s life on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 2:00 pm at Grenfel United Church, (3451 Grenfel Rd, Utopia, ON), and all are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, a donation in Peggy’s memory to the Barrie SPCA or Youth Haven in Barrie would be much appreciated.
Online memories and condolences may be shared at www.peacefultransition.ca