BRINDLEY, Margaret

BRINDLEY, Margaret Patricia March 17, 1928 – March 25, 2025 Pat Brindley, our beloved matriarch, died peacefully a week after her 97th birthday in Calgary, AB.
Born Margaret Patricia LaRose in Battleford, SK, in 1928, she lost her mother, Mary Sophia Whitford, at the age of eight years, but did her best to care for her younger siblings until her father, Remy LaRose, remarried. Though life was difficult in the Depression years, Pat learned to be independent and resourceful, taking her first job in the summer of 1939 when she was eleven. She attended Eagle Valley School then St. Vital’s School in Battleford, and St. Patrick’s School when the family moved to Lethbridge in 1942. Pat left school and home early, working at Eaton’s until she married James Dennis Brindley in 1947. She became an exemplary farming partner with Dennis, managing the household and caring for their children as well as working in the fields, supervising harvest crews, and welcoming with home-baked treats or a meal, everyone who arrived at their door.
During the 1960s, after finishing her high school diploma and nurse’s aide training, she began working full-time at Southland Nursing Home, a new progressive senior’s residence. There, as Activities Coordinator, she developed innovative programs, including music for residents with dementia, cabarets, fashion shows, concerts, and gardening. She did much to engage the residents as well as inspire staff and community involvement. During this time Pat and Dennis divorced and she left the farm for Lethbridge where she purchased and renovated a home for herself and her youngest child Elaine. Pat continued her education and began working in senior home care in the County of Barons. In 1984, she moved to Edmonton where she worked in urban home care with a wide variety of clients with complex needs.
Pat was very active in the Unitarian Church in Edmonton and joined their travel club as well as taking up cross-country skiing, hiking, and golfing. She enjoyed a wide circle of friends and was an enthusiastic volunteer, particularly in the arts. Once retired, Pat travelled extensively, starting with a European tour but it was on a group camping trip in the Australian outback that she met the love of her life, Les Pritchard, who lived in England. They spent over 30 years together enjoying staying at each other’s homes in England and Canada and travelling the world together. In 1996, Pat moved to Calgary to a home that overlooks the Bow River Valley and downtown. Pat became an active member of the Bow Cliff Seniors’ Centre, participating in numerous activities, making close friends, and volunteering in many capacities including writing a history of the Centre and serving on the Board of Directors. Pat was a feminist, social justice activist, a keen follower of news and politics, and volunteered for both the Liberals and NDP in a number of election campaigns. She was a lifelong learner, constantly adapting to new circumstances. She listened thoughtfully to others and generously shared her skills and knowledge in both her personal and professional life. She made a positive difference to many people and was loved and admired for her honesty, wisdom, and sense of humour. She was a voracious reader and was working her way through Murray Sinclair’s “Who We Are” at the time of her passing. She stayed funny and feisty to the end.
Above all, Pat cared about family. Her parents’ roots stretched through historical Métis communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and in 2016, she became a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
She was predeceased by her beloved Les, and her siblings, Ramy LaRose (Angie) and Eleanor Kehler (Abe).
She is survived by her four children, Brian (Liz), Bonita (Paul), Jane (Ross), and Elaine (Rod); her grandchildren, Ben (Jessica), James (Tara), Emily (Leon), Paolo, and Anna; and her great-grandchildren, Desmond, Teija, Mason, and Austin. Pat is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their children with whom she loved to stay in touch. She was a proud and loving mother, auntie, grandmother, and great-grandmother, a role model, and true matriarch. She leaves a strong and beautiful legacy.
There will be no formal service. At her request, her ashes will be placed with Les’ in a penthouse crypt overlooking the Old Man River valley in the Mountainview Cemetery in Lethbridge.
If so desired, donations may be sent directly to one of the following charities: The Mustard Seed, 102-11 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB, T2G 0X5, (403) 269-1319, HYPERLINK “http://www.theseed.ca”www.theseed.ca, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 2300 Yonge Street, Suite 1200. Box 2414, Toronto, ON, M4P 1E4, 1-888-473-4636, www.heartandstroke.ca, or to Bow Cliff Seniors, 3375 Spruce Drive S.W., Calgary, AB, T3C 3A3, E-transfer to: info@bowcliffseniors.org.
Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Pat’s family at www.MHFH.com.
In living memory of Pat Brindley, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes.