Obituary of Margaret Alice Dahms

To view the livestreamed service, please click here.

Our beloved mother, Margaret Alice Dahms happily went home, daughter by her side, in her 99^th year on October 9^th, 2025, in Surrey, British Columbia.

Born on a farm, Lot 17 W.S.R. Saugeen Township, outside the town of Paisley, Ontario where she spent her childhood and youth, Margaret graduated first from Paisley Continuation School (Grade 13) and then attended Stratford Teacher’s College for one year, receiving a teaching certificate. A few courses at Queen’s University were taken in later years.

Margaret was an earnest teacher, beginning her career at the age of eighteen at Ellen Gown Public School for two years, going home on weekends to help with chores. She was married shortly afterwards, in the Dunblane Presbyterian Church of Bruce County, to Edward Theo Dahms, whom she had met at teacher’s college. Together, they taught in a two-room school near Carlisle, Ontario – SS No. 5 East Flamborough Township. Edward taught in one room, and Margaret taught in the other room. In subsequent years, she would be a “supply” teacher in the Waterloo Region K-12 classrooms and an English teacher to new immigrants at Conestoga College in Kitchener.

From a young age, Margaret had a perspective on life embedded in wonder and joy, finding happiness in small things – a bird’s chirp, dainty flowers, and quietude, but anchored in large values – family, selfless service, and harmony. By the age of twelve, she made the serious decision to follow Christ fully which set the course for her life. At the same time, Margaret believed that God told her she was going to become the wife of a minister. And she did. Eventually her husband became a “Reverend”, and she served with him in various pastorates from the 1950s to late 1960s: Selkirk, London, Pelham, New Hamburg, and Richvalley, Indiana. Wonder and joy were multiplied with the adoption of three children while living in London and Pelham. Along with equal measures of consternation and bewilderment, I am sure.

Margaret’s faith was life-giving to her and in the 1970s she gravitated toward the Order of St. Luke, a ministry that both nurtured a renewed prayer life and anchored a steadfast hope in His promises. Scriptures sustained her, sheltered her, and strengthened her. Hymns sung in different seasons bolstered her faith and provided a way for both spiritual expression and drawing closer to her God: “O the deep, deep love of Jesus!/tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;/and it lifts me up to glory,/for it lifts me up to thee” (S. T. Francis, 1834-1925).

A shared passion of Margaret and her husband was found in history, particularly family history, and varied readings from daily scriptures to Catherine Marshall, from Bryce and McKechnie genealogy to annals of country history – all became sources that enriched her knowledge base. This interest also took her and the family across North America to meet relatives near and far, no matter how slim the connection might be: yearly family picnics and reunions, multiple camping and train trips, various museum and historical site visits, and special outings to symphony and theatre venues filled our childhood. Repeated journeys to Virginia and Chautauqua, N.Y., furnished infinite cultural opportunities. When Margaret and Edward were empty nesters, they travelled further abroad: the Middle East, the Far East, and Europe.

Margaret relished visiting people and was known for her warm hospitality: socializing with others and conveying sincere interest; whipping up snacks and meals from seemingly nothing; baking specialties and delivering goodies to neighbours; hosting tea parties with eager grandchildren; and engaging in the lost art of letter writing. Many will remember her snippets about life and “inserts” from the newspaper she thought her readers might find amusing. For more than 78 years, amazingly, Margaret wrote an annual Christmas card to more than 50 people – and she found great joy in reading and saving every card or letter sent to her. 

As stated earlier, Margaret loved music, either as a piano player or as a singer – a soprano with a natural vibrato. There was not a hymn she did not like to sing or a time when audience members did not look over to see where the source of the sound originated. For ten years preceding her move to B.C., she sang with the Rockway Entertainers, a senior’s group in Kitchener Waterloo where she was able to develop her talents and serve the community (in the picture she is the one in front with the white jacket).

Margaret was faith-filled to her core: content with her lot, appreciative for what God had provided. Resilient and resolute after the death of her husband (2005), she continued to animate Biblical characteristics from 1 Peter 3:3-4, as she perfected the “hidden person of the heart” and the “imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit." We, who knew her, are grateful for her legacy of faith and for her impact on each of our lives. As a testimony to what I share about Margaret, even up to the last few weeks, she continued to draw comfort from humming a Christmas carol from her childhood, “…be near me, Lord Jesus”. She retained this assurance of His presence to her last breath. So, it is somehow fitting to remember Margaret’s life on November 1^st, a believer’s solemn feast day observing the lives of departed saints (Hebrews 10:6). For her short years on this earth, Margaret’s values, choices, and actions from 12 to 98 years were a testament to a genuine and transformative faith. Her gain on October 9^th, at 4:40 P.M. is our heartfelt loss and she will be greatly missed. Margaret -- our mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend -- is not here; she has gone home.

Margaret is survived by her children David (Leisa), Edith, and John. She is fondly remembered by her grandchildren Isaac, Bethany, Rebekah, Christina, and Leorah; great-grandchildren Abigail, Rose, Benson, Tehilah, Portland, Jesse, and Silas; nieces Judy (Manfred), Esther (Richard), Linda and Mary (George); nephews Fred (Ruth) and Ron including several Bryce relatives: her sister, Margery Campbell; sister-in-law’s Dorothy (Archie), Donna (John), and Barbara (Tom); brother-in-law Gordon McGarvey; and numerous nieces and nephews.

As the oldest of her generation, Margaret is predeceased by several Dahms relatives: in-laws, Vera and Nelson Dahms, brother- and sister in-law’s John (Dorothy) and Alice (Don); and nephew, Daniel; Bryce relatives include her parents, Alice and David Bryce; six siblings – Archie, Anna (Don), Jean (Rick), John, Tom, and Mary; brother-in-law Mac Campbell; niece and nephews Mary Jean and David Laffoley, and Bill and David Bryce.

Visitation, funeral services, and reception will commence at 9 A.M. November 1^st at Calvary United Church, 48 Hawkesville Road, St. Jacobs, Ontario with Rev. Drew Maxwell officiating (service will be streamed – link on church and funeral home website). Interment at St. Paul’s United Cemetery, Mildmay, at 3:30 P.M. Arrangements are by Erb & Good Family Funeral Home in Waterloo.

Memorial donations may be provided to Calvary United Church, St. Jacobs (“missions”), Operation Mobilization, or a charity of your choosing to celebrate our mother’s heart to wholeheartedly live a legacy and bequeath a legacy to future generations (see website of Erb & Good Family Funeral Home for links). The family extends gratitude to care aides, staff, and medical support at Elim Village (Harrison West) in Surrey, British Columbia, who partnered with family to care for Margaret over the past six years. Appreciation is also offered to numerous family and friends who visited and brought joy, laughter, and perhaps respite from daily walks with her daughter as Margaret and her family journeyed together with the challenges of Alzheimer’s. Deepfelt thanks for “stopping” by and visiting.