Margaret Pamela Doxey: Sister. Aunt. Mentor. Scholar. Born July 30, 1928, in Edinburgh; died Feb. 21, 2024, in Peterborough, Ont., by medically assisted death; age 95.
Margaret Doxey.Courtesy of family
Margaret Doxey was an academic and trailblazer, although she would hate that description.
Her formative years were during the Second World War in England. Her father, Colonel William Roberts, served in the Royal Army Postal Service and was lovingly referred to as “Tiger,” a most incongruous nickname to his kind and gentle disposition. Margaret was a product of her time. One didn’t complain about the war or rations (especially the lack of sugar). One simply endured and learned to love tea without extras.
Margaret’s pursuit of a career in academe during the postwar era was considered folly. However, she had an internal drive of curiosity, a need to understand and make her mark in the world.
Few women studied economics and law, let alone earned doctorates. Margaret obtained a BSc (Econ) with first-class honours from the University of London. Later she completed her PhD in the Faculty of Laws at University College, London. Her thesis, Economic Sanctions and International Enforcement was the first of many influential publications in books and articles she wrote. To this day, no one studies or discusses sanctions without referencing her work. Colleagues always hoped to deliver their remarks before Professor Doxey to any academic panel because after her critique there was rarely left anything unsaid.
In the 1960s she moved to South Africa and worked for South African Institute of Race Relations and lectured at the University of Witwatersrand. In 1967 she immigrated to Canada to be closer to her sister and accepted a post at the newly created Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., where she helped to establish the Department of Political Studies. As a scholar and talented teacher, she left a lasting impact at Trent. Many of her students went on to stellar academic careers thanks to her continuing guidance and counsel. Later in her career, Margaret consulted with the U.S. government, the UN Security Council, and at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
When Prof. Doxey noted you had made a wise decision, it was high praise. Margaret was a stickler for manners. And while she would rarely point out errors directly, one knew that the bar of behaviour was higher.
Margaret also had a creative side that was expressed through her love of tigers. When she was a visiting lecturer in Massachusetts, Margaret frequented the discount store Filene’s Basement. There she found a stuffed tiger with such a determined expression that she bought it. The tiger, named Wellesley, became the star of many of her whimsical poems and a book called Tales of Wellesley (self-published and illustrated by her 12-year-old grandniece). When you study the challenging world of geopolitics, poems and short stories are a stark relief. Wellesley and the other stuffed tiger companions, collected over time, were permanent fixtures on her favourite couch beside the many books and crossword puzzles Margaret would complete.
She read voraciously and loved a tipple of port from time to time. And somehow, despite not having children, she knew exactly what small token to give to members of her adopted family of former students and mentees as well as to her beloved nieces, Catherine, Alison and Rosalind.
She was the model of pragmatism. After a car accident in her 70s, she calculated that taxi rides for the remainder of her life would still be cheaper than owning a car. In her 90s, she began to bequeath her possessions to the people who would appreciate them the most. She was determined to leave nothing for family and friends to do when she was gone.
It therefore came as no surprise at the age of 95, having suffered another stroke, that Margaret made the rational decision to seek a medically assisted death. In her final interview with the physician, he asked if there was anything she needed. She quipped, “to be younger,” which, of course, true to her quick wit, was the perfect answer.
Rosalind Genge is Margaret’s niece; Andrea Charron is Margaret’s mentee.
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