Lee, Margaret Turner

Mrs. Lee had lived in Acton for the last eight years after moving here from Meredith, New Hampshire, where she lived in a renovated one room schoolhouse overlooking the mountain ridges of the lake region. It was these mountains and other landscapes that often inspired her watercolor paintings. Margaret (Peggy as she was known to most who knew her) had painted watercolors since she was in high school and had a magical way of capturing the world around her. Growing up in Virginia, Peggy loved being in nature and experiencing its delights.

After college at James Madison University, Peggy married Francis W. Lee of Boston and came to call New England home - living in Massachusetts and Connecticut to raise her children and then retiring to New Hampshire. As a young mother with five active children, Peggy still found time to participate in her local garden club in West Medway Massachusetts. When the family moved to Dedham, she had beautiful gardens that surrounded the house. She always delighted when spring arrived and she could put out the pansies. At her Connecticut home, the house came with a formal garden and that brought a new challenge which she mastered artfully.

In Connecticut Peggy worked for Outward Bound during which time she was able to take an adventurous rafting trip down the Colorado River including a solo overnight in the wilderness, she prided herself on being independent. Peggy also worked in the guidance office of the high school and served on the Board of Education when her children were in school in Wilton.

She moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to take a position as a development officer at Harvard University, contributing successfully to an enormous capital campaign. After Harvard, she worked in development at Babson College before finishing her career at Tilton School in New Hampshire. Through development work, Peggy was able to fulfill her capacity to put on wonderful events, create lasting bonds with school alumni and faculty and to engage with these academic communities. She was very successful in her career but thrived on her avocations of painting and gardening.

When Peggy moved to Meredith, New Hampshire, she bought a wonderful little one room school house up on the side of the mountain. She renovated it and made it into a wonderful home surrounded by vistas of the mountains and gardens flowing down the hillside. She studied painting with a group of local artists under Larry Frates and did many paintings of the beautiful New Hampshire countryside. Peggy also served as a volunteer at the Meredith Public Library where she held an exhibition of her paintings.

Peggy loved adventure and travel and found herself traveling all over this country with her daughters to explore art museums and special gardens. She was abroad on special trips for painting in Italy, Bermuda, and the Azores. Her artwork enabled her to revisit her trips and share her memories with her friends and children. Peggy continued to paint until two years before her death, and hosted her last art exhibition six years ago.

During the later part of her life, Peggy moved back to Acton, Massachusetts to be closer to her children. She faced a long time challenge of living with Parkinson's disease and managed her disease with grace and elegance. She continued to paint, to participate in book groups, to make new friends and explore new places. At the Inn at Robbins Brook, she could often be

found sitting on the front porch reading or visiting with friends.

Peggy's five children were a source of great pride for her as she watched and participated as their lives unfolded. She gave her children the importance of independence, thoughtfulness and humor. They are all gardeners and lovers of the outdoors. From her mother, Margaret Ann Ferguson of Roanoke, Virginia, she got the love of children and the patience to handle them. From her father, John Valter Turner, Peggy inherited a strong sense of humor and humility.

Peggy is survived by her five children who were with her at her death, Thomas H. Lee of Arlington, MA, Alexandra Lee of Arlington, MA, Katherine Lee of Boxborough, MA, Elizabeth Lee of Westport, NY and Nicholas F. Lee and wife, Jane of Wilton, CT. Peggy was the grandmother of six - Nayeli and Valentina Rodriguez, Katie and Anna Schiesser and Margaret and Henry Lee.

A memorial service and celebration of Peggy's life will be held at The Story Chapel, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA on Saturday, September 11th at

11:00 am and all are welcome. A retrospective exhibition of her paintings will be part of the day's celebration. Burial will be private in Westport, NY. Contributions can be made in her name to the American Parkinson's Disease Association.

Acton Funeral Home, Acton, Massachusetts
Boyle Brothers Funeral Home, Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts
Martin & Doran Funeral Home, Maynard, Massachusetts
Doran Funeral Homes, Inc.
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