Sadly, Margaret Elizabeth Fankboner ‘Maggie’ passed away on January 15, 2024. Maggie died of natural causes in Royal Jubilee Hospital ICU at 18:43.
Morgan, her daughter, and Maggie were holding hands and listening to Handel’s Messiah as she transitioned, one of her favourite pieces. Her love of classical music, art and family were well-known.
Maggie contributed significantly to our world and we are better for knowing her. She was an intellectual, activist, artist, scientist, and Mother to many. Maggie contributed tirelessly to causes and her generosity and ability to love people are unforgettable. She was a sophisticated woman with wisdom and grace, who returned to her religious roots before passing on.
Maggie is very missed by her husband of 57 years, Peter Vaughn Fankboner. They met as marine biologists digging for worms on a sunny California beach and made it. They created two children, Dale ‘Carl’ Kaehler and Morgan Alexa Fankboner; and three grandchildren, Gabriel Tobias Kaehler, Thaddeus Peter Kaehler and Larkin Eliza Fankboner. Maggie leaves a loving family behind, including her three sisters and two brothers, who meant the world to her.
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Maggie was marvelous and will be very missed. Much love to her family and friends at this time.
I met Maggie, Peter and toddler Morgan at SFU where we adults worked. A Fankboner family of academics and aesthetes. Grateful for having known you all. Much love.
Alas, we were neither confidants nor lifelong friends to Maggie, but we did have the distinct pleasure of meeting, then getting to know her, and subsequently discovering that she was, indeed, such a sweet, sweet soul! Much can and has been said about the transience of life, but to have it tempered by Maggie’s smile and sharp sense of humor was a precious gift that enriched our lives and we are far better for it. Thank you, Maggie! And God Bless!
Cousin Clement (Clem) Furlong
February 23, 2024
The news of Maggie’s passing deeply saddened me and brought a flood of pleasant memories. I used to ‘kid sit’ Maggie, Becky and Mary pre David, Mark and Debbie. Through the years we managed to stay in close contact. Despite Maggie’s younger age, I thought she might beat me to a PhD. Had circumstances been different, I’m quite sure she would have. She was very bright. After settling into a faculty position I often thought how much I would enjoy mentoring Maggie on a PhD project such as chemotaxis of marine microbes. I believe that we occasionally discussed this possibly. While this did not happen, I did have the pleasure of mentoring two of David’s son’s undergraduate projects. I’m so glad that Maggie and I had a chance to chat shortly before her passing. My pleasant memories of my very talented and bright cousin Maggie will be with me the rest of my days. My condolences and love to the Probert and Fankboner families that Maggie leaves behind.
Cousin Clem
I spent the last half-century as a historian writing about science and religion. In religion and science, Maggie was a soulmate, unique in our extended family, my very first maternal first cousin. Her handmade handwritten cards carried on where e-mail ends. I keep a large collection from ten or twenty years. They are precious permanent occupants of my archive even as Maggie is a precious permanent voice in my Choir Invisible, ‘… those immortal dead who live again | In minds made better by their presence: live | In pulses stirr’d to generosity, … | In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, | And with their mild persistence urge [wo]man’s search | To vaster issues. | So to live is heaven …’
Maggie. Super bright. So creative. So filled with love and concern for others.
Interested in so many things in the natural world, but her first love, the ocean and her favorites, freshly lapped shells and rounded stones with bright colors and interesting striations. It was fun exploring the natural world with her.
She also enjoyed good food and indulging people with Molasses Sugar Cookies! But she would also cook up healthier fare, making the best salad I have ever had! Becky, Erin and I enjoyed a fabulous meal out with her in May on a patio with filtered sunshine. Good memories.
I love her laughter, head thrown back, the merriment in her eyes. And she could laugh at herself, a gift! She had a lot of grace toward our young family when we were snowed in on Burke Mountain and she loaned the kids her metal bread pans to build snow forts with…to be found rusted when the snow thawed!
And then there were the challenges of taking care of Peter when his infirmities struck. The challenges of her own health and the difficulties of navigating the medical system. Bearing up under various trials that would break lesser people she continued to persevere. It’s as if she took Winston Churchill’s words to heart; Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
The move to the island was so much work for her. But again, Maggie was dauntless, processing through fifty years of artwork, pottery, and books. She was so decisive.
Her great love for family, keeping in touch with people. The beautiful cards she thoughtfully crafted out of magazine pictures. The time she invested in her siblings, particularly the youngest ones, Dave still remembers his time with Maggie in Petaluma and Victoria as some of the best of his childhood.
As we became grandparents ourselves, we were better able to understand the love and delight Maggie had for her grandchildren. Many phone calls she wanted to talk about little else than the latest goings on with them.
She passed way too soon, but we look forward to the day when we shall see her again!
My deepest condolences to Peter and your family . Words cannot adequately express my gratitude in knowing your mother. She was exceptional in every way and it was a privilege to have known her.
I was deeply saddened by the news of Maggie’s passing. We met SFU where we worked and then carried on a long distance friendship through cards and letters. I, too, have held on to these beautiful keepsakes as a memory of our friendship. Maggie was an exceptional woman, so intelligent, talented, and kind. I will miss her laugh and insights. My condolences to her family and friends.