Died ‎CIRCA 1957

Born ‎21 Sep 1926 Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom, died ‎18 Jan 2017‎, 90 years
Marjorie Arnison was born in September 1926, in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, England. In February 1937, Marjorie, a brother and two sisters were removed from their mother's care and sent to the Middlemore Emigration Home in Birmingham, by the Fairbridge Farm School Society. In September 1937, Marjorie and her younger bother Kenneth Arnison were shipped to the colonies - they were sent to the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School on Vancouver Island, BC, on the west coast of Canada. Younger sister Audrey was sent to this farm school in 1938. Sister Joyce remained at the Birmingham Middlemore Emigration Home until she was 16, then she was returned to her family. The were called an "Imperial investment" by the Prince of Wales. White stock in the colonies...

British child migration had a 350 year history - 1619-1970s. Canada accepted over 120,000 children between the 1830s and the late 1940s.

Marjorie was sent to Canada at the age of 10 as a child migrant. See 'Marjorie Too Afraid to Cry' by Patricia Skidmore, Dundurn Press, Toronto, 2012. She married Clifford Scott Skidmore and had 5 children, including Patricia.

Marjorie was born in 1926. She passed away in 2017.

SKIDMORE, Marjorie
September 21, 1926 — January 18, 2017

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, Marjorie. She passed peacefully surrounded by family, after a short battle with pneumonia and complications with COPD.

Marjorie was predeceased by her husbands, first, the love of her life, Clifford Skidmore (1957) who departed this world way too young; and second, Roland Noel (1999). She was also predeceased by her mother Winifred Arnison (1972) and father Thomas Arnison (1977), her brother Frederick (2006), sister Phyllis (2007), brother Norman (2012), “Canadian” brother Kenneth (1983), sister Jean (1989), brother Richard (2013) and her dear son Lloyd (2007) (Maridee).

She is survived by her “Canadian” sister Audrey (Bunny) and three of her ten English siblings, Joyce, Lawrence (Pam) and David (Marion). She is also survived by her son Fred (Nancy), daughter Patricia, daughter Joan (Dave) and son Rick (Sherri) as well as many grandchildren: Shaun, Mike (Cori-Ann), Carly (Trevor), Christa (Roger), Luc, Joshua (Jenny), Fletcher (Aleksa), Jack, Nathan, Cory, Vern, Dana, Stephanie, Evan and Nicole; great grandchildren Van, Violet, David, Miley, Carter, Ayla, Karma, Jaden, Rylan, Kirsten, Brayden, Reese, Austin, Rylan and Nevaeh as well as many nieces and nephews in Canada and in England.

Marjorie is survived by her four-legged furry companion Georgie, who brought her great happiness over the past seven years.

Marjorie was born in 1926 in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. In 1937 at the age of ten, as part of the British Child Migration program, she and her younger brother Kenneth (age nine) were sent to Canada to the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School near Cowichan Station, BC. A year later, their little sister Audrey (age eight) also joined them. “Marjorie, Too Afraid To Cry” is a book about their childhood journey to this Farm School in Canada.

Marjorie married Clifford Skidmore in 1948. After he passed, Marjorie raised her five children in the lower mainland, first in Vancouver, then in Coquitlam. She moved to the Okanagan to the town of Oliver in 1972.

Marjorie spent the latter half of her life in the town of Oliver where she always felt at home. During her years with Rolly, she became part of the extended Noel family, whom she adored.

The Legion Branch 97 and the Kiwanis Club, both in Oliver, became a major part of the last 20 years of her life. Volunteering at the Legion and Kiwanis gave her great joy along with numerous wonderful friendships, most especially with her great pal, Yvonne Moore.

Marjorie’s smile and her warm and inviting heart were known far and wide. She will be missed by many.

When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices.
When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.

A Celebration of Life will be held on April 16, 2017 in Kelowna, BC. Service details to follow at a later time.

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”
– Queen Elizabeth II

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