Obituary of Margaret Ruth Oliver

December 19, 1927 – Winnipeg, Manitoba

November 23, 2024 – Calgary, Alberta

Margaret (Megs, Marg, Margo) Ruth Oliver (nee Hammett), of Calgary, AB, passed away on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the age of 96 Years.

Marg was born in Winnipeg, MB, on December 19, 1927. Marg was the third child of five born to Gladys and Edgar Hammett.

Graduating from high school in 1945, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in science at the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1949.

Marg loved to travel, and her adventurous spirit took her all over the world, first as a young woman, and then again in her later life. Marg had known her future husband, Thomas Oliver, since her late high school days, marrying him in 1954. In their life together, they raised four children: daughter Jane, and three sons, Mark, George, and Jim.

Marg’s husband, Tom, died suddenly in 1997. With children long grown, and left with an empty house, Marg travelled widely and visited many countries around the world. She was a passionate hiker and loved the mountains. She founded a hiking club in Calgary in 1971. The Tuesday Hikers roamed widely on Tuesdays, and further afield on week-long trips in the western mountains.

Amica (Verve) at Aspen Woods was her home for the past ten years. She loved living there and made many new friends, but in her later life, she faced challenges from the loss of her youngest son in 2022 and her battle with dementia.

She suffered a serious stroke on November 7, 2024, and was cared for by her family and hospital staff until the trail’s end. Her spirit flew west from the Foothills Medical Centre in the early afternoon of November 23, 2024. Her determined spirit ignored the snowstorm outside as she had somewhere to go, and that somewhere was “her mountains”.

She is survived by Mark (Sheila, and grandsons, Ian and Tom); Jane, George (Marla), Jim’s husband Wyatt, her younger sister Jean, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and her siblings, Do, Miv, and John.

Thank you to all the staff at the Foothills Medical Centre Emergency Department and Unit 54 for their exemplary care, kindness, and compassion.

A Celebration of Marg’s Life will be held at Verve Aspen (10 Aspenshire Drive, S.W., Calgary) on Saturday, November 30, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Alberta, 200, 119 – 14^th Street N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1Z6 Telephone: (403) 264-5549, www.heartandstroke.ca.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Margaret’s family here.

In living memory of Margaret Oliver, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Heritage, 1708 – 16th Avenue NW, Calgary, AB, T2M 0L7, Telephone: 403-299-0100.