During her 101 years, Margaret “Peggy” Maurer lived a life of amazing breadth and variety.

Born Margaret Torrey in Milwaukee, Oregon, New Year’s Eve, 1922, her early years with her two sisters (she was the middle one) spanned the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression. Hard times provoked a family move to Chicago for her high school senior year where she met Harold Maurer. His World War II service in the Army Air Force interrupted their romance until their marriage in Asheville, N.C., where first son Alan was born.

After the war they returned to Chicago where Harold managed the Elgin Illinois Airport, and son Harold was born. Called back to service because of the Korean War, the family posted to Germany from 1951 through 1955, first in Wiesbaden and then Munich. This military life led to three stops in Washington, D.C. – where youngest son Leo was born – and numerous other locations including Belleville, Ill., St. Cloud, Minn., and Hawaii. Finally, Harold and Peggy retired first to Texas, then Solomon’s Island, Md., and, finally, Lexington in 2004.

An avid reader, expert seamstress, loving and diligent mother, cutthroat Gin Rummy player and exceptional military wife, the enormous change she experienced mark her life as nothing short of remarkable. When born, radio, automobiles and airplanes were the newest tech. She readily adopted mass air travel, the revolution in home appliances, television, computers, cell phones and social media, all of which she used to enhance her life. Peggy drove until she was 99, used her cell phone until after she was 101, and used her computer – Facebook, email and solitaire – until she moved to Havenwood in August this year. During her adult life she experienced World War II, the Baby Boom, Korea, Vietnam, 9/11, January 6, 2021, and so much more. She spent her final two decades in restful Lexington, a home she deemed “wonderful.”

Finally at peace, Peggy passed away on Sept. 10, 2024. She smoked for 73 years, and suffered from severe and worsening COPD for the past 10 years or so, regretting every cigarette. Her three sons and their families survive her. In her later years, the Willie Nelson/Fred Rose song touched her heart the most with this: “Love is like a dying ember And only memories remain And through the ages I’ll remember Blue eyes crying in the rain.”

She will rest in peace in Oak Grove Cemetery, in view of the home she lived in over for 20 years.

A celebration of her life will take place on Nov. 3, at Sunnyside in Kendal from 2 to 5 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the charity of your choice is appreciated. NG