User:Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem

'''Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem M.Ed. (1943-2022)'''

Marilyn Belleghem was a successful marriage and family therapist and author for more than forty years. Marilyn built and managed the company Marilyn Belleghem Consulting Inc. from 1978 through until her death in July 2022. As a sought-after therapist based primarily in Ontario's Halton Region from 1981 until 2021, Marilyn worked as a professional relationship consultant and had a specialized focus on guiding Families in Business. Quest Publishing'' is the publishing division of Marilyn's company. As an author, Marilyn wrote and published memoirs on personal growth through travel.

Marilyn was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was raised in the country in rural Peel County, now Mississauga, Ontario, near the village of Erindale. Marilyn's father, William Barnicke, was the president of Canadian Automobile Adjusting and her mother, Dolores Gingras, was active in community work including the Cancer Society, The March of Dimes. Dolores was also a member of the school board, (presently called a trustee) for Peel County Board of Education.

Marilyn attended elementary school at Lorne Park Public School, secondary school at Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School in Cooksville, and completed her teacher's certification at the former Lakeshore Teacher’s College in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. Marilyn was an elementary school teacher for the London Separate School Board (1963-4) then the Etobicoke Board of Education until 1968 when she took a leave of absence to raise her young family.

As her family grew, Marilyn returned to post-secondary education and earned her Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto - Mississauga and, later, her Master’s Degree in Adult Education and Counselling Psychology (1981) from the University of Toronto Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Marilyn also completed post-graduate course work at the University of Guelph in the Faculty of Family Studies, now known as College of Social & Applied Human Sciences, and obtained her Clinical Membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

While Marilyn made her permanent home in both Oakville and Burlington, Ontario, Canada, she enjoyed summers in Muskoka and escaped for a few weeks each winter to Captiva Island in Florida.

Marilyn is the author and publisher of her memoirs on personal growth through travel. Marilyn's writing includes Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail (2003) Questing France: Deepening the Search for My Holy Grail (2005) Questing Home: A Safe Place for My Holy Grail. These titles are available in both print and eBook format through libraries, online retailers, independent booksellers, and directly from Quest Publishing. Marilyn's final memoir, Questing Confidence: Managing My Holy Grail was published in July 2022, and will soon be available for purchase through Quest Publishing.

Marilyn's books and articles have been widely quoted in the press, both locally and globally. In her lifetime, Marilyn was a frequent speaker and lecturer to a wide range of community and educational organizations and she was an expert guest on both radio and television programs.

Marilyn retired from consulting and closed her incorporated company in 2022.

After a long and courageous battle with Metastatic Breast Cancer, Marilyn passed away peacefully on July 20, 2022, a date of her own choosing. Marilyn retained her spirit of adventure and continued to advocate for choosing our our paths - seeking our individual Self and following our own Quest - until the very end of her time on this earth.