Mary Margaret "Peggy" Wood

Born:  January 27, 1929, Rosalia, Kansas
Died:  September 3, 2004, Manhattan, Kansas

Celebration of Her Life Service
3:00 PM, Saturday, September 11, 2004
Community Room, Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community, Manhattan, Kansas
Clergy:  The Rev. Tom Robson
Pianist:  Marilyn Lake
Special Music:  "Everlasting Arms"  "Draw Me Near"  "Wonderful Grace of Jesus"
                              Instrumental Selections by Grandchildren
Final Inurnment:  Clements Cemetery, Clements, Kansas

    Peggy Wood, 75, died Friday, Sept. 3, 2004, at Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan.  Mary Margaret Nobel was born in Rosalia, Jan. 27, 1929, to Bert and Nellie Smith Noble.  She graduated from Kansas State University in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in home economics and extension and received a master's degree in secondary counseling from Emporia State University in 1972.
    She married Howard C. Wood in El Dorado on Aug. 21, 1949.  He died in 2001.  They lived on their farm near Clements for 45 years.  They organized two 4-H clubs and were leaders of the Clements club for over 35 years.  She served on the boards of the local YWCA, Chase county Extension and AAUW, and was an Elder/Deacon of the Cottonwood Falls First Presbyterian Church and sang in the choir.   She taught home economics seven years at Marion Jr. High School in Florence and coached girls basketball.  She organized the Future Homemakers.  Later she taught special education students in the Chase County Middle School in Strong City.  She worked three years for the Charles Rayl Law Office and three years for Home Health Services of Chase County in Cottonwood Falls.  After moving to Manhattan, she served on many committees at Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community. 
    She is survived by her daughters, Dr. Katy Grandison of Colrain, Mass.; Margie Dyck of Overland Park; Jeanne Mann of Lawrence; and Mary Crane of Ackley, Iowa; and 10 grandchildren.
    Peggy graciously donated her body to the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
    Memorials are suggested to Camp Wood YMCA, and Good samaritan Fund of Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community in care of Brown-Bennett-Alexander Funeral Home, 201 cherry, Cottonwood Falls, KS  66845.

    My Grandmother was a fabulous lady.  With a hospitality ease that would put Emily Post to shame, she conducted her life with the reassurance of love and understanding.  She took her role of caretaker and nurturer very seriously.  All of her daughters were taught to cook and sew, along with several grandchildren and many 4-H youth.  Peggy's compassion extended beyond her immediate family to provide a home to nephews Wade and Steve Wood at different times in their lives, making her the mother-figure for six children at one time.  International students and single people in the community were always welcome at the holiday table.  She stepped in to help Kim Magathan at the death of her mother, because Peggy understood the needs of a young woman and was happy to provide guidance and shopping experiences.  She accepted and embraced cultural and personal differences and ways of life, as her four very diverse daughters show.  At 74, she got her first passport, went through customs, and took a cruise.
    Peggy was famed for her rolls, homemade bread, and angel food cake.  Her flower garden was always a triumph and a staple for Peggy:  she was known for beauty in more than one capacity.  In college and beyond, Clovia was very important to Peggy as being one of the first times when she felt accepted as part of a group.  Bridge and Nertz, among other card games, are remembered by friends and family alike to have been very important to Peggy.  She helped all of her daughters move to college (even when college was in Lawrence) and to other apartments and homes many times.  Likewise, she was present to help when her grandchildren were born and throughout their lives.  Peggy encouraged a love of music in her daughters, and grandchildren, as she was a lover of music all her life.  She was the ultimate go-to lady with stain-removal queries from daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren; holding the title "Laundry Queen."  Among the granddaughters, no one will ever French braid like Grandma.  To some family members' annoyance, Peggy was always taking pictures and being the family historian,  which can only be fully appreciated in retrospect.  Peggy was profoundly proud of her grandchildren, and loved them even when their parents grew impatient.  She was patient, she had a very sharp sense of humor, and she lived every day that she was given.  My Grandmother was truly remarkable, and I hope, someday, to be a lady like her.

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