Margaret Somerville "Marlie" Gemmel

1904 - 2001  (97 years)

• Name	Margaret Somerville "Marlie" Gemmel
  Born	19 Jul 1904	Ayr, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Residence	1911	Ayr, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Presbyterian
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-195357
  Died	4 Nov 2001	Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Buried	8 Nov 2001	Ayr Cemetery, Ayr, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Person ID	I195357	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Richard Gemmel,   b. 5 May 1872, Woodstock, Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 6 Dec 1958, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 86 years)
  Mother	Margaret Davidson "Maggie" Wilson,   b. 9 Apr 1871, Ayr, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 29 Sep 1909, Ayr, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 38 years)
  Married	27 Jan 1897	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  Family ID	F248561	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Margaret (Marlie) Gemmell passed away at Riverbend Place, Cambridge, on Sunday, November 4th, 2001. She was in her 98th year. Born in Ayr, she was a daughter of Richard Gemmell and Margaret Wilson. After attending Ayr School, she went into a career in teaching. She taught for a short time at S.S. 19 in North Dumfries (now the township office) and then in Milton for 38 years. Each summer she and her sister Bessie returned to the home they shared on Bute Street, Ayr. That continued until the home was sold in 1988. Her father operated a barber shop in Ayr for over 40 years in the store which now houses the McTayrn Flower Shop. Margaret will be lovingly remembered by her cousins Jean Zimmer, Margaret Roberts, Robert and Laurie Zinn and their family and Gordon and Jean Zinn and their family. She was predeceased by one brother; Dr. James Gemmell and her sister Bessie Gemmell. Friends will be received at Coutts and Son Funeral Home, 96 St. Andrews St., Cambridge, on Thursday, November 8th, 2001 from 12: 30 until the funeral service time of I:30.p.m. Interment Ayr Cemetery. The Ayr News Nov 7 2001 pg 12 ___________________________ Miss Margaret, Gemmel June 1964 Miss Margaret S. Gemmel retired in June 1964, after teaching for forty years. She is a daughter of the late Richard Gemmel and Margaret Davidson Wilson. Margaret, known to many friends as Marlie, was educated at the Ayr Public and Continuation Schools. After graduation from Hamilton Normal School, she taught, for three years at the Stone School, S.S. No. 19, North Dumfries, then went to Milton Public Schools for thirty-seven years. She did outstanding work as a citizen of Milton, besides her work as a teacher. During the Second Great War she was an active worker in the Red Cross, and in the Earl of Glamis Chapter of the I.O.D.E. She was a member of the Women's Canadian Club. She did Sunday School work and Young People's work, and was a life member of the Evening Auxiliary in St. Paul's United Church, Milton. At the completion of twenty-five years of teaching in Milton, Miss Gemnel had been presented with a sterling silver cream and sugar set, and in Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Year, 1953, she was given a Coronation Medal, one given for outstanding work as a teacher. On Tuesday evening, June 16, 1964, the Milton Public School Board entertained Miss Margaret Gemmel and fellow teachers at a dinner held in Knox Church, Milton, when the Board presented her with an inscribed silver tray, and the teachers presented her with an oil painting. On Thursday evening, June 18, 1964, a public reception was held in the Christian Education Building of St. Paul's United Church to honour Miss Margaret Gemmel. More than 400 former pupils, associates, and friends gathered to do her honour. A book of congratulations and good wishes from former pupils was presented to her. The Mayor of Milton presented a large portrait of Miss Gemmel, made by Ashley and Crippento be hung in the foyer of the J.M. Denyes School. Two representatives of the Home and School Association presented to Miss Gemmel, a purse of money, on behalf of her friends, former pupils and associates on the staff. It is interesting to note that Miss Gemmel taught Home Economics for a ten year period relinquishing that position to do acceleration grade work and home teaching of a cerebral palsy student. Miss Gemmel kept her own record book, with the names of the 1,440 students she has taught - many of them in the second generations - and many of them in the teaching profession. Here are some tributes to Miss Gemmel, which were published in the Milton newspaper:- (The Canadian Champion) "After thirty-seven years of "setting a standard of excellence in Milton School," the School Board accepted with deep regret the resignation of Miss Margaret Gemmel as a teacher on the Milton staff. Mr. W. L. McNeil, Public School Inspector In the area, noted, "Her shoes will be very difficult to fill. She has always done a very capable job. Miss Gemmel has spent her life with us, Imparting v/isdom and knowledge." John Bell, Principal of Bruce St. School suggested the best adjectives to describe her were, "sincere, dedicated, interested, thoughtful and kind." We are proud to have been associated with you. E.W.Poster, Supervising Principal, reminisced about many happy memories of Miss Gemmel's teaching days. He recalled her choir of boys that won a music festival trophy three years in a row, her efforts toward the school concerts, her pioneering of the home economics field here 25 years ago, her organization of the school parties, and finally her work as a teacher, whose class was always prepared, always challenged to do better, and always responded well to their instruction. He said that in literature, she had made her greatest contribution to the teaching profession, for she made every lesson a lesson in English Miss Gemmel was a charter member of the International Reading Association, and her credo for parents was "the child who reads is the child who succeeds". School Board trustee, Alex. Cooke, one of the members of her first class in 1926-27, said "Your contribution as a teacher is unparalleled In this town, your interest in the welfare of each child is manifested in the manner in which you were able to Install, by precept and example, In each, the highest regard for all the virtues which embody Christian living." On behalf of the teachers, Mrs. Presse spoke these words; "You have been an Inspiration to all the teachers, the way you have been a vitalizer of life to your pupils, giving them a sense of values to carry into adult life. You have been a marvellous teacher, and a wonderful friend to us all." Women's Institute Ayr Chapter

  
  

• Sources

  [S1282] Census - ON, Waterloo, Ayr - 1911, p 10. [S57] Vit - ON - Birth Registration. Name: Margaret Somerville Gemmel Date of Birth: 9 Jul 1904 Gender: Female Birth Place: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Father's name: Richard Gemmel Mother's name: Margaret Davidson [S367] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Ayr - Ayr Public CC#4489 Internet Link . [Left/South] Adam Wilson/ April 1838/ June 1908/ a Native of/ Alva Scotland/ James G. Gemmell M. D./ 1899 - 1974/ Bessie D. Gemmell/ 1901 - 1994/ Margaret S. Gemmel/ 1904 - 2001/ Wilson. [Right/North] Richard Gemmel/ May 5, 1872 - Dec. 6, 1958/ Margaret D. Wilson/ wife of/ Richard Gemmel/ died Sept. 29, 1909/ In Her 39th year/ Marion, 1898/ Jean Russell/ wife of/ Richard Gemmel/ Sept. 26, 1878 - Oct. 30, 1967/ Gemmel. [A] Mother [B] James [C] Bessie [S4] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration. Name: Maggie D Wilson Age: 25 Birth Date: abt 1872 Birth Place: Ayr, Ontario Marriage Date: 27 Jan 1897 Marriage County or District: Waterloo Father: Adam Wilson Mother: Bessie Davidson Spouse: Richard Gemmel Spouse's Age: 24 Spouse Birth Date: abt 1873 Spouse Birth Place: Woodstock, Ontario Spouse Father: James Gemmel Spouse Mother: Mary Ann Flyer Gemmel

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 19 Jul 1904 - AYR, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Presbyterian - 1911 - AYR, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 4 Nov 2001 - Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - 8 Nov 2001 - Ayr Cemetery, Ayr, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth