Margaret Wade Labarge was an international traveller but a tireless worker for her local community.
She was a world-renowned expert and lecturer in the esoteric subject of medieval history, but a passionate and intensely practical advocate for the elderly.
Margaret Wade LaBarge.
Photograph by courtesy of Paul LaBarge,
Family handout
A former president of the Ottawa Council on Aging, Labarge was a writer, a mother and a political junkie who until a week before her death on Monday was always ready for a discussion on politics.
A widow since 1972, Labarge lived until she was 93 and packed each year of her remarkable life with scholarship, relentless community service and family, which on her final day numbered four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Born in New York City on July 18, 1916, Labarge graduated from Harvard in 1937 before continuing her education in medieval history at Oxford University, where she met her Canadian husband, Ray.
They married in 1940 and settled in Ottawa at the end of the Second World War.
She lectured in medieval history at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and wrote nine general-interest history books that have been translated into several languages. She was in her 80s before she stopped travelling, researching and writing.
“Her research was in Europe,” her son, Charles, said Tuesday, “so it wasn’t unusual for her to tromp through old battlefields, imagining ancient battles.”
Labarge was writing full-time in 1969 when she was asked to sit on the board of Saint-Vincent Hospital. It was to be the start of many years of volunteer activism, during which she became chairwoman of the Saint-Vincent board, advocating successfully for improved rehabilitation facilities for seniors recovering from strokes or hip operations.
She continued her advocacy for seniors through involvement with the Council on Aging, where, aside from her period as president, she chaired an influential committee on elder abuse.
Labarge was the first public director of the Canadian Nurses Association in 1980 and was on numerous other boards, including those of the Rehabilitation Institute of Ottawa, the regional district health council and Catholic Family Service.
She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1982, with a citation that embraced her two public passions, noting her “ability to bring history to life” and her “voluntary work in nursing and the care of convalescents, the disabled and the aged.”
Also on her personal awards wall were numerous honorary degrees.
Charles Labarge said his mother taught her children to always use their intellects to full capacity and to give back to their community.
“Ottawa was a good place for her because she could meet people of like mind,” he said. “She gave up her U.S. citizenship to become a Canadian. She loved it here.”
Labarge recovered from a recent hip fracture and continued to live at home until her death.
“She had a long life,” Charles Labarge added, “but she did a lot with it.” [rc]
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
September 2, 2009
CANADA: World traveller, medieval historian, champion of elderly dies aged 93
.
OTTAWA, Ontario / The Ottawa Citizen / Life / September 2, 2009
By Chris Cobb, The Ottawa Citizen
Margaret Wade Labarge was an international traveller but a tireless worker for her local community.
She was a world-renowned expert and lecturer in the esoteric subject of medieval history, but a passionate and intensely practical advocate for the elderly.
Margaret Wade LaBarge.
Photograph by courtesy of Paul LaBarge,
Family handout
A former president of the Ottawa Council on Aging, Labarge was a writer, a mother and a political junkie who until a week before her death on Monday was always ready for a discussion on politics.
A widow since 1972, Labarge lived until she was 93 and packed each year of her remarkable life with scholarship, relentless community service and family, which on her final day numbered four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Born in New York City on July 18, 1916, Labarge graduated from Harvard in 1937 before continuing her education in medieval history at Oxford University, where she met her Canadian husband, Ray.
They married in 1940 and settled in Ottawa at the end of the Second World War.
She lectured in medieval history at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and wrote nine general-interest history books that have been translated into several languages. She was in her 80s before she stopped travelling, researching and writing.
“Her research was in Europe,” her son, Charles, said Tuesday, “so it wasn’t unusual for her to tromp through old battlefields, imagining ancient battles.”
Labarge was writing full-time in 1969 when she was asked to sit on the board of Saint-Vincent Hospital. It was to be the start of many years of volunteer activism, during which she became chairwoman of the Saint-Vincent board, advocating successfully for improved rehabilitation facilities for seniors recovering from strokes or hip operations.
She continued her advocacy for seniors through involvement with the Council on Aging, where, aside from her period as president, she chaired an influential committee on elder abuse.
Labarge was the first public director of the Canadian Nurses Association in 1980 and was on numerous other boards, including those of the Rehabilitation Institute of Ottawa, the regional district health council and Catholic Family Service.
She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1982, with a citation that embraced her two public passions, noting her “ability to bring history to life” and her “voluntary work in nursing and the care of convalescents, the disabled and the aged.”
Also on her personal awards wall were numerous honorary degrees.
Charles Labarge said his mother taught her children to always use their intellects to full capacity and to give back to their community.
“Ottawa was a good place for her because she could meet people of like mind,” he said. “She gave up her U.S. citizenship to become a Canadian. She loved it here.”
Labarge recovered from a recent hip fracture and continued to live at home until her death.
“She had a long life,” Charles Labarge added, “but she did a lot with it.” [rc]
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Margaret Wade Labarge was an international traveller but a tireless worker for her local community.
She was a world-renowned expert and lecturer in the esoteric subject of medieval history, but a passionate and intensely practical advocate for the elderly.
Margaret Wade LaBarge.
Photograph by courtesy of Paul LaBarge,
Family handout
A former president of the Ottawa Council on Aging, Labarge was a writer, a mother and a political junkie who until a week before her death on Monday was always ready for a discussion on politics.
A widow since 1972, Labarge lived until she was 93 and packed each year of her remarkable life with scholarship, relentless community service and family, which on her final day numbered four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Born in New York City on July 18, 1916, Labarge graduated from Harvard in 1937 before continuing her education in medieval history at Oxford University, where she met her Canadian husband, Ray.
They married in 1940 and settled in Ottawa at the end of the Second World War.
She lectured in medieval history at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and wrote nine general-interest history books that have been translated into several languages. She was in her 80s before she stopped travelling, researching and writing.
“Her research was in Europe,” her son, Charles, said Tuesday, “so it wasn’t unusual for her to tromp through old battlefields, imagining ancient battles.”
Labarge was writing full-time in 1969 when she was asked to sit on the board of Saint-Vincent Hospital. It was to be the start of many years of volunteer activism, during which she became chairwoman of the Saint-Vincent board, advocating successfully for improved rehabilitation facilities for seniors recovering from strokes or hip operations.
She continued her advocacy for seniors through involvement with the Council on Aging, where, aside from her period as president, she chaired an influential committee on elder abuse.
Labarge was the first public director of the Canadian Nurses Association in 1980 and was on numerous other boards, including those of the Rehabilitation Institute of Ottawa, the regional district health council and Catholic Family Service.
She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1982, with a citation that embraced her two public passions, noting her “ability to bring history to life” and her “voluntary work in nursing and the care of convalescents, the disabled and the aged.”
Also on her personal awards wall were numerous honorary degrees.
Charles Labarge said his mother taught her children to always use their intellects to full capacity and to give back to their community.
“Ottawa was a good place for her because she could meet people of like mind,” he said. “She gave up her U.S. citizenship to become a Canadian. She loved it here.”
Labarge recovered from a recent hip fracture and continued to live at home until her death.
“She had a long life,” Charles Labarge added, “but she did a lot with it.” [rc]
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
