Doreen Steven

Loving mother and mother-in-law, doting grandmother and dear friend, Margaret Doreen Steven passed away peacefully on her own terms at her home at the Woodhall Retirement Village surrounded by her family on September 6, 2023. She was 88.

Doreen Steven (nee Park), proud mother of Alison and Chris, adoring mother-in-law to Huw and VERY proud grandmother of Bryn and Evan, was born in Glasgow, Scotland in the summer of 1935. She immigrated to Canada in 1961, first to Montreal where Alison was born, then to Mississauga where Chris was born. She briefly lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, before returning to Mississauga. She settled in Brampton in 1989.

Doreen brought her vivacious energy, unrelenting optimism and contagious smile to every endeavour. From a career perspective, she was one of the first female computer programmers in Montreal in 1965, a job she loved. She considered her most important role in life was as a mother and, as such, was primarily a homemaker till her divorce. She was an exceptional seamstress, making not only her own stunning wedding gown, but also numerous matching outfits for her girls (who, regardless of the quality craftsmanship, often complained about them). While the girls were still young, she turned her deft skills into a small business creating wonderful quilted and appliqued clothing. She was a Girl Guide Brown Owl and summer camp leader in the 1970s, enjoying all the fun activities with her young girls.

After her divorce in 1981, Doreen returned to Mississauga with her two daughters, re-entered the work force, and began to upgrade her credentials. On completion of her program at Sheridan College, Doreen was awarded the Board of Governors’ Silver Medal as the top student in the Continuing Education program. She worked at CompAir Canada in Mississauga, in marketing and sales administration, for eight years, and with D & D Industries in Woodbridge in a similar role for ten years.

After retiring in 2000, Doreen found the time to pursue other pleasurable pastimes. She was an avid golfer and had the good luck to twice score a hole-in-one on the old second hole at her Derrydale course. She loved to ice skate and kept it up into her 70s. She maintained her active lifestyle with Tai Chi and regular walks well into her 80s. “Never stop moving,” she always said. Doreen also became actively involved in Probus. She was the first President of the Women’s Probus Club of Brampton Centre, a Past President of the Mixed Probus Club of Central Peel and co-founder and first President of the Women’s Probus Club of Brampton-Flower-City.

Doreen was fun-loving and adventurous with a bit of a competitive streak. She adored traveling to sunny places with friends to try out the local cocktails and soak up the sun. In her later years, her vacations were closer to home with many happy memories of cottage weeks away with Alison consisting of coffee and muffins on the dock in the morning and cocktails as the sun set. Forever the consummate host, she loved to entertain – bringing friends and family together to celebrate with lavish, themed dinner parties. She was also a bit of a whiz at knowledge games and word puzzles. She never missed Jeopardy, was a sought-after member at Woodhall’s Saturday afternoon games and bested her girls at Wordle most days, including her last.

Hers was a life well-lived. Of it all, she always said her proudest achievement was the well-balanced and happy lives of her two daughters, Alison and Chris. She will be sorely missed by all who loved her.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to her favourite charity, Sleeping Children Around the World.