After 36 years with the Gloucester and Ottawa Police Services, on April 30, Shawville resident Margaret MacDonald said goodbye to the working life and joined the rank of retiree.
Margaret and her mother Harriet moved to Shawville in 1974, joining her older sister Hennie Lucas, who along with her husband Lyons, owned a farm on the 7th Line.
Harriet was a well-known seamstress in the community.
“The whirring sound of the sewing machine was something I heard constantly growing up,” said Margaret, who attended Pontiac High School, where she enjoyed her English classes with Joan Conrod, art classes with Carol Bretzloff-Holmes and was a member of the band, playing the flute, with music instructor George Campbell.
At 18-years-old, MacDonald moved from Shawville to work at the Gloucester Police Service.
“I was in good company, as several of my classmates joined afterwards, like Randy Brown, Rick Keindel and George Horner,” she said.
She was a true “Jane-of-all-trades” in the early days, working in the Records, Firearms, Criminal Investigations, Intelligence and Traffic Court Departments before becoming the Manager of Central Records.
“We were a small but growing organization, there weren’t a lot of civilians and there weren’t a lot of women, but there were lots of opportunities if you wanted them,” MacDonald said.
Her time with the police was an adventure, to say the least. MacDonald recalled being “initiated” by several of the more experienced members during her first few years there.
“I had my share of practical jokes played on me,” she recalled, laughing. “I was locked in the back of a police car several times and had gum spit in my coffee. It was all to see whether you cried or gave it right back.”
And she definitely wasn’t the type to cry.
Gloucester, Nepean and Ottawa Police amalgamated in 1995 and MacDonald worked with even more Shawville-ites. Debbie Erfle-Storie, her brother, Ralph Erfle, their sister-in-law, Wendy Erfle, sisters-in-law Kathy Murray and Nancy Wilson, another family duo of Carol Brunet and Anne Hodgins, along with Ruth Armstrong and Tim Hodgins.
“I never had to go far to hear news from home, I was surrounded by people I grew up with,” she said. “It was certainly comforting to have that connection.”
MacDonald switched to the IT world during the amalgamation of police organizations and from there, she became the Manager of Corporate Communications.
As an employee, MacDonald was tough, hardworking, and was never afraid to fight back on issues she was passionate about. It certainly wasn’t easy, having an integral role in communications for major incidents like the G20 Summit or Canada Day (the biggest event managed by Ottawa Police), the Cenotaph shooting in 2014, the on-duty death of Constable Eric Czapnik in 2009 and the OC Transpo/Via Rail collision in 2013.
MacDonald has remained a regular visitor to the Pontiac over the years. Her mother lived in the area until she passed away in 2010 and her sister Hennie was a resident for over 45 years until she died last year.
“Shawville will always feel like home, because that’s where I grew up and where my family is,” she said.
MacDonald plans to take it easy for the first bit of her retirement. She and her husband are currently putting a front porch addition onto their 200-year-old home in Finch and she’s planning to buy a new car – a MINI Countryman – to get her through the winter months when she can’t drive her beloved 1998 Volkwagen Beetle.
As a person who likes to keep busy, Margaret will be continuing her work as the Vice-President of the Stormont-Dundas Library Services Board and as the long-serving President of People Words and Change.
Friends and colleagues have expressed how much she will be missed.
“It’s not the end of those relationships,” said MacDonald. “I’m only a text or call away, and now I’ll have all the time in the world.”
Written by Clare Rayment
