When Margery Ross (Campbell) Fisher was born on a winter’s day in Lachine, QC, in 1925, few could have predicted the extraordinary path her life would take. By the time she passed away in 2005 at the age of 80, she had been a nurse, a pioneer in commercial aviation, a devoted mother of five, a lifelong student, and a force of community spirit in her adopted hometown of Sackville, NB.

Fisher came of age during the Second World War. At just 18, she was eager to join the effort. She wanted to enlist directly, but her father — both pragmatic and discerning — encouraged her to train as a nurse instead. “They’ll need nurses,” he reasoned, “and by the time you’re finished, the war will be over.” He was right. Fisher graduated from the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1946, just as peace returned.

But she was never content to sit still. Drawn by adventure, she became one of the earliest stewardesses for Trans-Canada Airlines (now Air Canada). At the time, only registered nurses could serve in the air, a testament to how precarious postwar flying could be. Based in Moncton, she flew the DC-3 route to Boston, navigating both the excitement of travel as well as the guidelines of a profession that, in those days, required women to be single, the “right” height and weight, and always neat, tidy, smiling, and polished.

Her career in the skies ended when she met Maurice “Jake” Fisher on a blind date one New Year’s Eve in 1949. They married a year later and with marriage came an abrupt end to her life as a stewardess. “Times have changed,” her family now reflects, noting that marriage once meant the end of a woman’s professional ambitions. For Margery, it marked the beginning of a new chapter.

In quick succession, five children filled the large red farmhouse on the Westcock marsh where she presided not only over children but also a menagerie of animals — dogs, cats, horses, cows, and the occasional stray. Her days were full, but her mind remained restless.

Having taken courses at McGill years earlier, Margery returned to the classroom in the late 1960s, this time at Mount Allison University.

She chipped away at her studies part-time while juggling her family and her community work. In 1975, she earned her Bachelor of Arts with a major in English and a minor in Art History. She was 50 years old, her youngest still in high school, and — remarkably —graduated on the very same convocation day as her daughter, Susan. It was the first and only time in Mount Allison’s history that a mother and daughter graduated together.

Margery’s return to education might have been the capstone to another woman’s story. For her, it was only another beginning. She re-qualified as a nurse and went back to work, caring for residents at the Drew Nursing Home in Sackville for another decade. Patients often mistook her for another “Mrs. Fisher,” a resident of the home, but her youthful energy, warmth, and care set her apart even in the confusion.

Her contributions extended far beyond her professional life. Fisher poured herself into volunteer work, shaping the fabric of her community in quiet but lasting ways. She helped launch Sackville’s Meals on Wheels program, served on the national board of the Victorian Order of Nurses, delivered food for the Red Cross, taught Sunday school at St. Paul’s Anglican, and supported local initiatives from the food bank to the public library.

Through it all, she remained her children’s greatest cheerleader, never missing a competition, recital, or performance. She laughed often — usually at herself — and encouraged her children in music, academics, and life, even while confessing that piano and violin were perhaps not the family’s greatest gifts.

Her legacy lives most vibrantly in her family. Four of her five children attended Mount Allison, with three graduating. Today, her grandchildren continue that tradition of academic excellence — one as a Rhodes Scholar, another as a scientist, and all carrying forward the resilience and drive she modeled.

Margery Fisher’s life was not defined by a single role. She was a nurse, a stewardess, a student, a volunteer, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. But more than that, she was an example of what it means to live with curiosity, courage, and compassion. She loved deeply, gave generously, and never stopped learning.

Fisher once joked that after years of watching her daughters’ field hockey games, she still didn’t know the rules. But in life, she knew exactly how to play — with strength, humour, and a spirit that still inspires.