MARY “MARGIE” AUSTMAN

After an unexpected journey with cancer lasting several months, Mary Margaret “Margie” Austman succumbed at her home on April 28, 2025, with family by her side.
Margie joins her parents John and Leona Garrison, and her eldest brother David (Cindy) in her long-awaited eternal home.
Remaining here temporarily, remembering her and grieving for her, but rejoicing to have known and loved her, are: her husband Gord; her sons Matthew and Daniel; Matt’s wife Michelle and their children Ben, Madi and Lauren; her sister Joy and her husband Mark; her brother Ted and his wife Rashida; Gord’s mother Fran and his siblings Dan (Sue), Sam and Kris; her nephews and nieces; and many dear friends.
Margie Garrison was born in the city of Nadiad in Gujarat State, India, on Feb. 7, 1956, the child of Christian missionaries. Although she travelled around the world twice by the age of five, most of her growing up years were spent in India. It is where she first encountered her eventual husband (Gordon Austman) in 1971 at Woodstock School in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains.
Margie’s family roots are in the United States and in Canada, especially in the Owen Sound area, where her mother’s paternal grandparents homesteaded.
Margie came to Canada at the age of 18 to attend college in Toronto. Although she missed her south Asian birthplace, Canada then remained her home. She married the father of her sons, Eric Hancock, in 1979, and moved to North Bay. Orangeville followed; then a brief excursion to the West; then Guelph; Orangeville again; and finally, Kincardine in 1999 when she married Gord and moved there with her sons. She worked at many jobs, including hair dressing, which she continued to do occasionally and informally for the rest of her life. She also volunteered variously over the years with Day Surgery, Hospice, Community Living Friendship, and at the Clothes Hamper.
Margie’s creativity was endless. In the dark one night early in their marriage, Gord was blown away to see stars shining down on them from their bedroom ceiling. That was just the beginning of the transformation not just of Gord’s drab bachelor pad, but of his life, of both their lives, thanks largely to her dissatisfaction with the status quo and her love of colour and novelty.
In 2023, accompanied by her brother Ted, Margie was blessed with a trip back to her homeland of India. They visited their mountain-top school and reconnected with old schoolmates for the first time in many years. It was fitting that this return to her roots would occur just a year before the diagnosis that would herald the end of her earthly walk.
A memorial service for family and friends to honour Margie will be held at the Davey-Linklater Funeral Home in Kincardine on May 10, 2025, beginning at 1:30 p.m., followed by refreshments and a time to share memories.
Thank you to all who took such good care of her and her husband Gord in their home these last few months: family and friends, but also Dr. Pamela Gill, Dr. Damian Gunaratne, Dr. Donna Ward, the Care Partner nurses, staff of the Kincardine hospital and Ontario Health at Home, Dr. John Stirrat and the staff of Walkerton hospital.
If you wish to remember Margie materially, please donate to Community Living Kincardine & District.
Portrait and memorial online at www.daveylinklaterfuneralhome.com.