GAMBIER – Margaret Guilmette “Peggy” Turgeon, 79, passed away on May 17, 2022, after living cheerfully with dementia for a number of years. Peggy was born in Yonkers, N.Y., to Margaret and Dudley Guilmette on Oct. 20, 1942. Dudley was killed in WWII, and she was raised by her mother and stepfather, William Eadie. She grew up in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and graduated from Briarcliff High School in 1960, where she played field hockey, basketball and tennis. She graduated from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., with a religion major in 1964. In 1966, she married Thomas Turgeon of Amherst, whom she had met as a child while summering with her best friend in Friendship, Maine. Peggy and Tom had two children, Sarah of Shutesbury, Mass., and Charles of Newburyport, Mass.
Peggy and Tom spent most of their lives in Gambier, Ohio, where Peggy worked as a case manager at Moundbuilders Guidance Center in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and as a college caterer for Kenyon College. Peggy had a tremendous passion for cooking. She and her catering partner and dear friend Joyce Klein ran the Friday Luncheon Café every Friday during the academic year in Gambier for 30 years, where she was known for her generous portions of fabulous desserts. Peggy and Joyce catered countless college events, weddings and other formal occasions. Peggy taught at La Belle Pomme Cooking School in Columbus and attended classes at LaVarenne Cooking School in Paris.
Peggy was an active parishioner of Harcourt Parish in Gambier, where she served on the vestry for many terms, some as junior or senior warden. She served as a lay Eucharistic minister, sang in the choir and was very engaged in any and all events involving food. She also actively participated with Interchurch Social Services of Knox County for many years.
Peggy and Tom enjoyed travel in Europe and spent summers in Friendship, Maine, at the Turgeon family cottage. She prided herself in swimming in the ocean every day she was in residence. Peggy was an avid runner and tennis player for most of her life, loved a succession of springer spaniels and survived two separate bouts with cancer.
Following her retirement from Moundbuilders, Peggy found herself in a health care role as Tom was diagnosed with ALS and Peggy cared for him at their home in Gambier and in Friendship for 8 years. Peggy moved to Shutesbury to be closer to her children in 2016, where she attended Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, Mass., and volunteered in the kitchen at the Amherst Survival Center. In 2018, she moved to The Gardens at Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton, Mass., where she thrived under the wonderful care of the staff and brought cheer to residents and staff alike.
Peggy was predeceased in 2013 by her husband of 46 years, Thomas. Besides her children and their spouses, Fred Perry and Rosemary Turgeon, Peggy leaves four siblings, Peter (Renee) Guilmette of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., Mary Brickel of Sarasota, Fla., William (Susan) Eadie of Atlanta, Ga., and Susan (Tom) Shafer of Sarasota, Fla. She also leaves a sister-in-law, Nan (Steve) White of Yarmouth, Maine; and six grandchildren, Alex, Thomas and Evan Perry and Charlie, Ellie and Janie Turgeon; as well as a number of nieces and nephews.
Peggy’s high school yearbook quote makes for a most fitting eulogy, “With malice toward none; with charity for all.”
A memorial service is planned for June 12 at 2 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst. A celebration of life in Gambier will be scheduled in the Fall.
Memorial contributions can be made to Grace Church or the Survival Center in Amherst or Interchurch Social Services of Knox County or Harcourt Parish in Gambier.
