Mardi Lister, long time Orcas resident, passed away on May 15, 2010, in Castle Rock Colorado. Through patronage and participation Mardi had devoted herself to art and beauty; she had been a member of the Textile guild, the Orcas Palettes, Garden club, and a founding member of the Orcas Artworks cooperative. Mardi had also been a member of the Orcas Choral Society, and the Emmanuel Parish Choir.

She was predeceased by her husband of 33 years, Col. Roderick Latimer Lister, in 1981, and a son, Roderick Baird Lister, in 2008.

Born August 20, 1923 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Margaret Anne Baird was raised on the Canadian prairie during the Great Depression and bore the hallmarks of the Greatest Generation. Suppressing an artistic avidity perhaps, Mardi was enrolled in the School of Home economics at the University of Manitoba where she received a Baccalaureate degree, and was a Pi Beta Phi sister. She earned a Masters degree in nutrition and dietetics from the University of Minnesota. Many have been regaled by Mardi’s tale of preparing 300 turkeys while in the service of a tuberculosis sanatorium in the 1940’s.

It was at Minnesota that Mardi, piano accompanist, met “Roddie” Lister, choral Tenor, collegiate wrestler and footballer. The couple was married on June 29, 1947 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

During Rod’s service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps., five children were produced: Jennifer, Baird, Martha, Moira, and Ian at postings in Denver, Honolulu, Washington D.C., Hamburg, and Tacoma. In 1965, retiring from the military, Rod entered private practice in Denver, Colorado. While music had always permeated the household, Mardi began to have a little bit of time to devote to painting, and other expressions of beauty: at one point Mardi’s house in Colorado contained hundreds of champion African Violet plants, and glowed an eerie grow light color.

In 1979, the couple bought a house on Orcas Island and moved here in 1980 together. Rod died less than two years later. Widowhood afforded Mardi the opportunity to follow her own bliss: she traveled; she spent her time with knitting, weaving, music and painting; with beauty. She was an artist.

Margaret is survived by two great grandchildren, 13 grandchildren, four children, her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Jones of Lethbridge, and several Canadian cousins. A memorial service and interment will be held on Orcas Island at the Emmanuel Parish Church on July 20 at 1 p.m.