Person

Railton, Marguerite (1904-1998)

1904-1998

Marguerite Railton was born in Smithville, Ontario in 1904 to a family of five children. She also came from a Christian background. After completing high school, she took teacher’s training at Toronto Normal School in 1922-1923. After two years of teaching in a three-roomed schoolhouse in rural Ontario, she decided to return to school, and completed one year of nurse’s training. She later moved to Edmonton, where her sister Mabel and brother-in-law Gordon Skitch were ministering, and she became actively involved in their church. She later enrolled in the Prairie Bible Institute, where she became Marion Hull’s roommate.

Marion Hull was born in December 1901 in New Westminster, British Columbia. She was actively involved in the church from a young age and later moved with her family to Edmonton. She played for the Edmonton Commercial Graduates (known as “The Grads”) women’s basketball team for one year while in high school. She worked as a secretary in Edmonton and then enrolled at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta in the early 1930s.
Marion and Marguerite became good friends at Prairie Bible Institute and both felt a call to the ministry during their final year. The district superintendent from the Christian and Missionary Alliance did not wish to send them out to rural areas on their own; however, once it was agreed that they would go together, their “selfless service” began. Over 36 years, they served in five rural communities: Denzil, Saskatchewan (1935-1941); Hythe, Alberta (1941-1949); Daysland, Alberta (1950-1960); Lamont, Alberta (1960-1967); and Mirror, Alberta (1967-1971). Although the Christian and Missionary Alliance did not ordain them, they were regarded as pastors/evangelists, and they actively led Sunday church services and prayer meetings. They also did home visitations and participated in Bible camps and other recruitment activities. They were well-liked in their communities, highly regarded by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and very successful in nurturing the growth and development of the Alliance churches in the various areas in which they served.

After retiring from Mirror in 1971, Marion and Marguerite moved to Red Deer, Alberta, where they were active members of the Red Deer Alliance Church for 20 years. They moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1991 because of health concerns and to be closer to family. Marion passed away in 1994, and Marguerite passed away in 1998.

Denzil, Saskatchewan, pastor/evangelist, (1935-1941)
Hythe, Alberta, pastor/evangelist, (1941-1949)
Daysland, Albert, pastor/evangelist, (1950-1960)
Lamont, Alberta, pastor/evangelist, (1960-1967)
Mirror, Alberta, pastor/evangelist, (1967-1971)

Pastor/evangelist

Ambrose Archives