Marjorie Barmby's many involvements included church work, the Council of Women, and the co-operative movement. Born Marjorie Wight in Nebraska in 1904, she moved with her family to a farm near Regina in 1911. She attended Normal School, then taught at country schools and at Lang, where she married a farmer, Walter Barmby. After farming for twenty-five years, they and their four children moved to Regina in 1942, and to Saskatoon in 1955. Barmby joined the Co-operative Women's Guild in 1943, later becoming president. She was on the Sherwood Co-operative Board and, while a member of the Co-op Union Board, participated in province-wide co-op education programs. She was active at local - namely Saskatoon and Regina - and provincial levels with the Council of Women, and the Saskatoon and Provincial Councils awarded her life memberships. Active also in the United Church, she was a Life Member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board.
Work on behalf of children included piano teaching (at Lang) and establishment of a kindergarten in her home from 1957 to 1961. Barmby also sought to preserve Saskatoon's first school, Little Stone. By babysitting and making stuffed toys, she raised money to help overseas children. As well, she directed the United Church Junior Girls' Camp at Manitou Beach for six years. She died in Saskatoon on September 11, 1989.
Bob Ivanochko