Margaret HeatherCASE (ALLEN-PRICE)Margaret Heather Case, a resident of Hilton, South Africa for the past 22 years, passed away peacefully in Howick Hospital on the 29th November 2023. She was 86 years old. Margaret is survived by her husband, Roger Case, her three children, Juliette, Charles and David, and five grandchildren.
Born on 13th September 1937 in Okehampton, Devon to an army doctor, Margaret went to Stover School, Newton Abbot, Devon and then trained as a nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. She then went to Queen Charlotte Hospital London, where she qualified as a midwife. She later joined BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation - now British Airways) as an air hostess and travelled the world before getting married in Exbourne, Devon on 30th December 1965. She worked on the family farm with Roger in Monkokehampton, Devon before moving to Choma, Zambia in 1970 with Roger who was employed by the Tobacco board of Zambia. In 1979, the family moved to Malawi.
During this period Margaret home-schooled her sons with the BBC shortwave radio learning programmes. She was very active with community health care, assisting with under-five immunisations and supporting the farm clinics. In 1986, the family moved to Uganda following Rogers’s career as an agronomist.
In her formative years, Margaret enjoyed playing golf, tennis and was a keen gardener. She also played bridge but preferred gin rummy. Margaret also continued nursing when in the UK looking after the elderly in Poole, Dorset.
On leaving Uganda in 1995, Margaret and Roger moved to China, then a brief stint in England before deciding to retire and settle in South Africa in 2001. Here she took several painting courses and painted enthusiastically on fabric and with watercolours. She also enjoyed flower arranging and was active with the open gardens, flower arranging clubs and church in Hilton.
Her sense of humour, party spirit (always the first on the dance floor), creativity and her love of family were her enduring characteristics as well as her love of animals and the environment. She was jointly responsible for re-establishing the Ugandan branch of East African Wildlife Society, and helped with many fundraisers for the likes of Jane Goodall and David Shepherd.
Margaret was also a keen twitcher and went on many bird watching safaris and was extremely knowledgeable about birds, flowers and trees.
Margaret was always active - cycling, swimming and walking daily - until she was 80 years old, when she suffered two strokes. Since then her health slowly deteriorated with her becoming bedbound in her last years. She stayed in her house with carers and enjoyed a glass of wine in bed with the view of her garden and the birds till she passed away.
Cremation has taken place and a celebration of life will be held in England in the summer where Margaret’s ashes will be scattered.
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