Person

Fougberg, Margaret Linklater

• Collins, Margaret

December 21, 1910 - March 8, 2010

Margaret Linklater Fougberg (nee Collins) was a teacher, school board member, founder of the Pemberton museum, author, and amateur historian based in Pemberton. She was born on Bowen Island on December 21, 1910 to parents James and Irene Collins. She had six siblings: Bertha, Ione, Marion, Jean, James, and Roy. She became a teacher and taught at Chilco, Lasquiti Island, Claydon Bay, and Bowen Island before leaving to teach at the middle school in Pemberton in the 1920s. She met her husband, Slim, at a box social in Pemberton in 1929 while he was working at the local mill. They married on Bowen Island in 1939, just before he enlisted in the army to fight in World War II. In 1945, the couple returned to live in Pemberton and built a small house on the Taylor property with a turnip field and cattle, which they farmed and eventually sold to the Gilmore's in the 1950s. They built another house then and continued farming, which they later sold to the Ross's (Marilyn and Brian). Due to Slim's rheumatoid arthritis, he gave up farming to join Margaret on the local school board for District 48. In the 1960s, Margaret was also working at Pemberton Secondary School. In 1967, the Pemberton Pioneer Women, a committee of the Pemberton Women’s Institute started collecting examples of life in the area and made the first moves to found a museum that would house the collection and tell the story of the early days. Margaret Fougberg, Francis Decker and Mary Ronayne wrote “Pemberton: History of a Settlement” based on the records collected thorough their research. Margaret retired from teaching the early 1970s. In 1982, Margaret invited representatives from the community of Pemberton to her house for lunch in order to found the Pemberton and District Museum and Archives Society (PDMAS). A piece of land was made available in the Village of Pemberton and the first museum opened in 1982 on the site of what is now Fougberg Park. Her interest in history lead her and Slim to become involved in saving the Church of the Holy Cross at Skatin Nation, a church of great historic significance. In 1986, they were the recipients of an Award of Merit from the BC Museums Association. In 1985, the Howe Sound School District gave a plaque expressing appreciation for their years of trusteeship and contribution to outdoor education. She moved back to Bowen Island with her husband in 1990, where they lived near the Collins Farmhouse, Margaret's family home. Margaret passed away peacefully at Lionsgate Hospital on March 8, 2010, after living for a short time at Inglewood Care Centre. Fougberg Park in Pemberton is named after Margaret and Slim, since it was the original home of the Pemberton & District Museum and Archives until 1995, and due to the couple's instrumental role in shaping Pemberton in the the town's early years.

Bowen Island, BC
Pemberton

Teacher
Pemberton Museum founder
Amateur historian
School board trustee
Author

Fougberg, Thord "Slim" B. M. (fl. 1920s - November 27, 1995)

CA-BC-FM007

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives.

Catalogued May 2022.

1) Archival material
2) https://www.memorybc.ca/fougberg-fonds
3) https://www.pemberton.ca/government/news/post/fougberg-park-frequently-asked-questions
4) http://www.pembertonmuseum.org/blog/2014/7/4/margaret-fougberg-interview-2003/
5) http://www.pembertonmuseum.org/gallery/videos/interviews/margaret-fougberg-interview-2003/
6) http://www.pembertonmuseum.org/collections/photos/fougberg-margaret-mrs-thord-bm-nee-collins/?page=3
7) http://www.pembertonmuseum.org/collections/objects/fougberg-thord-bm-slim/?page=3
8) https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/vancouversun/obituary.aspx?n=margaret-linklater-fougberg&pid=140833496