Marjorie Elsie Almstrom (nee Carter) 1917-2015, passed away peacefully from pneumonia, on February 17th at Copper Ridge Place in Whitehorse. Born in Port Moody, British Columbia, Marjorie attained Master of Arts and of Education degrees from the
University of British Columbia. She taught school in Port Moody and Chilliwack, coming to the Yukon as a newlywed to join her husband Ed in 1948. When Ed died in 1960, she resumed her teaching career. In 1975, Marjorie took a position with the federal Secretary of State as French Program Coordinator, to lead the implementation of French bilingual programs in the Yukon.
In addition to being a teacher, Marjorie was an enthusiastic volunteer contributor to education in the Yukon. She was a founding member of the Yukon Teachers' Association, an active participant with the Victoria Faulkner Women's group, a founding
member of the University Women's Club, and a board member during the planning for the creation of Yukon College. Before coming to the Yukon, Marjorie volunteered and worked briefly for the YWCA, and was a board member of the Whitehorse YWCA group that built the facility here (now the High Country Inn). Of all her volunteer engagements, Marjorie's longest and most treasured were with the Whitehorse Anglican parish, and the Anglican Church Women.
Apart from her work and volunteer roles in the field, Marjorie was an avid historian of education in the Yukon, After retiring in 1982, she threw herself into documenting that history. The result, "A Century of Schooling: Education in the Yukon, 1861-1961", is available online at the Yukon Archives.
Marjorie will be fondly remembered by her many close friends, and by the students whose lives she touched. She was predeceased by her husband Ed and her sister Ethel. She is survived by her sons John, Jim, Eric and Chris, and her granddaughter Elizabeth.
The funeral will be at Christ Church Cathedral in Whitehorse, at 1 o'clock, Friday, February 27th. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Yukon Foundation.
