It is with great sadness that the family announces the death of Margaret Florence Pentland, 94, of Bathurst who passed away on May 11, 2012 at the Robert L. Knowles Veterans Nursing Home in Bathurst.
Born May 23, 1917 in the village of Pokemouche, N.B., she was the daughter of the late William Glidden and Celestina (Worral) Glidden. The family moved to Bathurst when she was 10 years old. She graduated from the Bathurst High School in 1935, worked a few years and in 1939 enrolled at the Moncton School of Nursing.
Upon graduation from the Moncton School of Nursing in 1942, she enlisted in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps and was sent overseas to England in 1943. After the Normandy landing, she was sent to France, Belgium and eventually Germany, returning to New Brunswick in August 1946. She worked short stints in Sussex and Saint John before returning home to Bathurst to work at the Sir James Dunn Hospital. She married Ernest Pentland in June 10, 1948 and had her only child, Ronald, in March 1949.
In February 1953, Nurse Pentland was instrumental in organizing the safe evacuation of all the patients from the Sir James Dunn Hospital as it burned. For that she was recognized by the Town of Bathurst for her calm bravery.
She then took up supervisory duties at the Valley Lourdes Sanatorium in Bathurst for TB patients. Later her unit was moved to the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst at which she worked until her retirement in 1978. After her husband passed away in 1984, she continued to live in the house on Riverside Drive that they had built in 1953 and only recently moved to the Robert L. Knowles Veterans Nursing Home in February 2011. She had been a member of the Herman J. Good, V.C. Br. 18 of the Royal Canadian Legion, Bathurst for many years.
Mrs. Pentland was the last surviving member of her immediate large family having three brothers and four sisters who pre-deceased her and is survived by her only child, Ronald (Genevieve Ferguson), two grandchildren, Jeffrey Pentland (Deneen) and Meaghan Wilbur (Ryan) and one great granddaughter Michaela Florence Pentland. She was eagerly awaiting the birth of a second great-grandchild (Meaghan&Ryan) in early June. There are, as well, many nieces and nephews.
The body will rest after 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, 2012 at Elhatton’s Funeral Home (www.elhatton.com), Bathurst. Visiting hours are Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 and Monday, May 14, 2012 from 9 a.m. until time of funeral from the Holy Family Church at 11 a.m.
In memory of this kind and patient woman who loved cats, donations can be made to the Bathurst Animal Shelter or to the donor’s favorite charity.
