BAUMGARTEN, Margaret

1931 – 2026

Margaret Baumgarten of Red Deer, Alberta, had sadly passed on Friday, January 16, 2026, at the age of 94 years. Margaret was born on Monday, October 19, 1931, on a farm near Bjorkdale, Saskatchewan, to Michael and Kathleen (nee Szegi) Molnar. She was the youngest of 14 children and had her older sister, Mary Laycock, acting as midwife. Her parents had immigrated to Canada from Hungary in the early 1900’s and married within the country. Margaret attended the Sunny Brow School, about a 1/2 mile down the road from the farm where she lived. She and her close brother, Andy, would ride a horse to school and they loved to play on the toboggan hill until dusk. After she finished school, Margaret worked at a local dentist’s office in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, as a receptionist. She often laughed about a time when a client came in who was having some trouble with his false teeth and to her dismay, proceeded to hand his top plate to her in her bare hands. She also worked for a time in Drayton Valley, Alberta, as a receptionist for a trucking company where her older brother, Mike, worked. It was here that Margaret learned the value of saving money, as she had to make a few pieces of bread last until the end of the week when it was payday. She vowed that never again would that happen to her. In 1959, Margaret married Albert Baumgarten. Albert was a new teacher at the Forrester School, where he found a boarding place at Andrew and Sophie Bacsu’s farm home. Sophie was Margaret’s sister and this is how they met. In 1961, their daughter, Janice, was born and about nine months later, Albert took a teaching job in Paintearth County, Alberta. In May of 1967, their son, Bradley, was born and there, in a country home, they lived for the next 30 years, making many good friends. Margaret volunteered at the library in Castor, Alberta, at an elementary school, and she became very interested in oil painting. She also gathered every month with a group of local ladies that would make lovely quilts for local people that were getting married. She was very artistic and would also get together with a neighbor lady named Orilla Matier, and the two of them would paint beautiful oil paintings. Margaret was also a passionate gardener and could make any clipping grow and flourish. Her perennial garden was always beautiful, and she prized many of her own mother’s plants among her own specimens. Her vegetable garden also did well, and she was always a great cook with whatever ingredients she had at the time. Margaret was also a devoted student of the Bible and loved to study and sing hymns. Every summer, she and Albert would travel to Saskatchewan or British Columbia to visit family and also get together with other Bible studying friends. In 1992, she and Albert moved to Fox Creek, Alberta, to be closer to their first granddaughter. There, they made many friends as well and Albert fished and Margaret continued to garden. Then in 2005, they moved to Red Deer to be closer to Bradley’s family and that same year. Janice and her family moved to Red Deer County. Margaret continued to enjoy her family and her gardening until Albert’s death in 2019. With the onset of dementia, Bradley and Janice agreed to move Margaret into the Revera Aspen Ridge, a senior’s living facility in Red Deer where she remained content and happy until her passing. Even though dementia robbed her of most of her memories, she remained at peace and not at all afraid when her time on Earth ended. Margaret is predeceased by her husband, Albert; her parents; and all of her siblings. She is survived by her daughter, Janice (Bill) Neumeier; her son, Bradley (Anne Marie) Baumgarten; her granddaughters, Janalee (Dustin) West and Jennifer (Jack) Hubbell; her grandsons, Christopher Neumeier, Joseph Baumgarten; and her great-grandsons, Ezrah, Ezekiel and Malachi West. Cremation entrusted to Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium, Red Deer, Alberta. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed at www.parklandfuneralhome.com

Parkland Funeral Home and Crematorium (Red Deer)

ONLY LOCALLY FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED FUNERAL HOME/CREMATORIUM

IN THE CITY OF RED DEER

“Caring Community Compassion Since 1999”

6287 – 67A Street (Taylor Drive), Red Deer. 403.340.4040.

• Date : 2026-02-09
• Location : Parkland Funeral Home (Red Deer) LOCALLY OWNED AND FAMILY OPERATED (Red Deer/Blackfalds/Eckville) www.ParklandFuneralHome.com 403.340.4040