Elmer & Grace Dundas Homestead at Manyberries, Alberta 2009
Margaret finished grade eight at the Onoway School and then worked for a neighbor doing housework to help out their family. Eventually she moved to Edmonton, Alberta and attended Alberta College and graduated with a Secretarial degree. She worked for a number of years as a secretary and eventually became a bookkeeper. Margaret was employed by the John Deere company and various other companies and organizations doing their books over the years.
Margaret and Stanley Barton were married at the First Baptist Church in Edmonton on December 21, 1943. They had met at a Legion dance in Edmonton.
Stanley received his discharge from the Army in 1946 and they moved back to their homestead. The homestead was filed in the Lawton District on S.W. 21-58-4-5. , 13 miles south west of Barrhead, Alberta.
The years were spent raising the children, milking cows and raising turkeys, sheep and pigs. One of Margaret’s greatest pleasures was when she and her daughter Sharon Dyer visited Scotland. We visited where Margaret’s Mother (Grace Dundas nee Crawford) was born Carluke, Scotland, visited the relatives for four days and toured the highlands and lowlands of the country.
Margaret and Stanley both took an active part in community affairs. Margaret served
as a Director on the Barrhead Co-op Board for eight years, and as a General Leader of the West Barrhead Multi 4-H Club for seven years and Secretary of the Alberta Women’s
Co-op Guild Provincial Board. Margaret won a trip to Montana as a result of her excellent leadership skills in 4-H. She also enjoyed golfing, fishing, camping, cards, traveling, bowling, floor curling and old time dancing. Margaret represented Barrhead on a number of occasions at the Alberta Seniors Games.
The Bartons were blessed with four children:
Patricia Anne Barton
Sharon Grace Barton
Linda Mae Barton
Dale Gordon Barton
Fourteen winters were spent in Mesa, Arizonia to get away from the cold. In 1998, Stanley & Margaret moved into the Barrhead Hillcrest Lodge. Eventually Margaret required more care and was transferred to the Keir Care Centre in Barrhead and lived there until her passing in 2004. Stanley died in 2002 and is buried in the Barrhead Legion Field of Honor.
