Margaret Vilma Swan

Born 22 November 1930, died 3 April 2025. Margaret was born on the farm of her

parents John W and Julia (Meszaros) Kovach southwest of Windthorst SK, where she

faced with them and two sisters and two brothers the hardships of the Great Depression.

About 1941 the family moved to the town of Kipling, where John W began a garage and

fuel distribution business while Julia performed miracles as seamstress, beekeeper and

gardener. Having graduated as class valedictorian from Kipling High School, then from

Normal School in Moose Jaw, Margaret began a ten-year career as a school teacher in

Vandura, Kennedy, Stoughton, Regina and Saskatoon, enjoying outstanding success in

the teaching of reading and art. She earned a BEd with Distinction from the University

of Saskatchewan.

In 1954 Margaret married P. Michael Swan, a high school teacher in Regina, later

a professor of Greek, Latin and ancient history at the U of S. They lived in Saskatoon

from 1957 except for two years spent at Harvard, where Michael studied, and on leaves

in England and the United States. They had three children, who all became professional

musicians – David and Kleis in Toronto, Michael II in Saskatoon.

A passionately loving and supportive mother and an unfailing yokemate of her

husband, Margaret was also a lover of beauty, evidenced in many ways: through dress,

through her attractive yard, which made a welcoming entrance to Kirk Crescent; through

enthusiastic support of the Saskatoon Junior Symphony and Saskatoon Symphony

Orchestras as a fundraiser and donor, and through the artistic activities that adorned her

home – metal work, brass rubbing, photography, doll making and especially stained

glass.

Other special interests were reading, birdwatching, needlecraft, Classical music,

and theatre. The Museum of Antiquities in the University of Saskatchewan had its

embryonic beginning when she convinced Michael in 1972 that students in university

and schools and a wider public deserved to have a tangible experience of ancient art.

Margaret enjoyed greatly the company of family, friends and strangers, not least a

forthright exchange of views with them on contemporary events and issues. One was

never left in doubt about what she thought, especially how she prized fairness and

deplored injustice to the downtrodden.

Margaret was predeceased by her parents, and by her brother Emerald (Margaret),

her sister Emily (Ted), her brother Joe (Shirley), and her granddaughter Lydia (daughter

of David and Meyoung). She is survived by her sister Grace (Eric) and by her beloved

children – David, with wife Meyoung and son Enoch; Michael II, with co-parent Karen

and children Jasper (son Ronin), David, Tabitha (Chris and children Darrion, Deanin,

Isabelle and Jaiden), Samson (Justine), Emma, Luke (Brittainy), Nigel (Josie and

children Herschel and Vienna); Kleis, with husband Sean and sons James and Daniel.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time. In lieu of flowers or gifts,

donations to the Autism Society of Canada would be welcome