Marina Josephine Ruth Ann (Moore) Pageot Welham
November 29th, 1934 – August 30th, 2016*

Marina’s Name

Marina was the youngest of three children, born about 12 twelve years after her two brothers, John and Bill, and a big surprise to her parents.  Marina’s mother, Caroline Wright (of England) and her father, John Francis (Jack) Moore of Ireland, both then long-time subjects of the Crown in Canada, expressed they joy in their new daughter, and their patriotism, when they christened her after the up-and-coming Duchess of Kent: Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark who married Prince George, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George V of the United Kingdom on November 29th, 1934, the day my mother was born.  The autographed photo above of Princess Marina of Greece in her wedding gown, is signed and dated on her wedding day, my mother’s birthday: November 29th, 1934.

Both my mother and I were born on Thursdays, which Marina’s mother, my grandmother, Caroline, assured us was very good, because Thursdays were always “bargain days” at Morgan’s in downtown Montreal, her favorite place to shop.  In other words, when Caroline brought Marina home, and when Marina brought me home, we were both “good bargains”.  Morgan’s, across from Phillips Square in downtown Montreal was later renamed “The Bay”.

Marina Welham was for decades an expert on cacti and succulents, and had her own small glass greenhouse at home.  She was the founder, editor and prolific author of The Amateurs Digest, a membership site for people around the world who shared her love of these amazing plants, found in almost every environment.  This is a photo of our family home, above, empty, the glass greenhouse to the right is where Marina raised some of the plants she was talking about.

FUN QUOTATIONS FROM THE LATE MARINA WELHAM, as remembered by her daughter, in the passenger’s seat:

Marina, on hearing about feminism:
“I wouldn’t lower myself to be equal to a man.”

Marina, on seeing a police car in the rear-view mirror while
speeding down a highway:
“Quick, hand me my lipstick!”

Marina, swerving to avoid hitting a fat man crossing on red:
“Whew!  That would’a been a mess!”

Love you, Mum.  Miss you always.  Kathleen.

This blog originally appeared at this address:

https://rememberingmarinawelham.blogspot.com/

*This is not the official date of Marina’s death.  There are problems with the public trustee, who grabbed the estate in my absence and liquidated it, with obvious efforts, likely successful, to embezzle a large part of it for people not related to Marina and me.  I suspect that Marina died January-February 2017.

*The portrait above is of Princess Marina of Greece on her wedding day. The royal princess was Marina’s namesake.  I don’t currently have any photos of Marina because the public trustee who stole and sold most of the estate, confiscated all the family papers, photos and “mementos”, to use as an incentive to force me to sign my approval to their theft and destruction of Marina’s estate (my property as her named sole heir and executor) and Marina’s life’s work as a writer and publisher.