Margaret L. “Peggy” Sparks
A Celebration of Life Service for Margaret L. “Peggy” Sparks, 82, of Sherburn, Minnesota and formerly of Plainview and Rochester, Minnesota will be 1:30 p.m. Saturday, December 3, 2022 at the Covenant Church in Trimont, Minnesota.
Peggy (Margaret Louise) Sparks died on November 16, 2022, surrounded with love, at her daughter and son-in-law’s home in rural Trimont, MN.
Peggy Mathewson was born in Providence, Rhode Island on January 5, 1940, to Alfred R. Mathewson and Margaret “Peggy” Louise (Artesani) Mathewson. As a young child she lived in Stratford, Connecticut. In 1947 she went to Greer School, a private co-ed boarding school near Verbank, New York and graduated in 1959. After graduation she moved to Viola, MN to be closer to her older brother, Jim and his wife and children. She then became employed with Interstate Power Company and moved to Plainview, Mn where she met and married Ronald Royce Sparks at the Community Presbyterian Church on June 3, 1961. They were married for 61 years! While in Plainview she raised their four children while being active in her community, neighborhood, church, and babysitting for other working moms. Peggy taught Sunday School and served as an elder in her church. She was a den mother for Cub scouts and Brownie leader for her daughter as well. When her youngest started school, she went to work at IBM in Rochester, MN. They moved to Rochester in 1990 and both retired from IBM in Rochester. During her retirement she did daycare for her grandchildren, worked countless hours in her perennial gardens; always ready to share perennials with family and friends, enjoyed hosting family for visits, was an avid bird watcher and thrift store shopper, was an active member of the Olmsted County Historical Society and member of the New York Genealogical and Biological Society as well as dutiful “neighborhood watch coordinator”. In 2006 she became a published author and documented the history of Hope Farm/Greer School from its founding to its demise. http://greerschool.org
In 2018, she and Ron moved to Sherburn, MN to be closer to their two daughters, Stephanie and Alice. She was a constant user of her computer which helped her travel the world and keep in touch with family and friends; was the family archivist keeping the genealogical records up to date; kept the records for the Greer School addresses and emails; enjoyed doing needlework, knitting, genealogical research, reading books on biographies, doing online puzzles with her brother, daily devotionals with her husband, watching “her BBC network”, the annual Christmas cookie baking and frosting with grandkids, splurged on getting her nails done and in her younger years spent many weekends camping and boating on the Mississippi River with her family and friends.
Left behind to remember her fondly are her loving and devoted husband of 61 years, Ron; two sons, Michael of California; Peter of Sherburn, MN; two daughters, Stephanie (Trace) Tumbleson of Trimont, MN; Alice (Christopher) O’Connor of Sherburn, MN; four brothers: James (Barbara) Mathewson of Durham, NC; Peter Mathewson of Portsmouth, NH; Paul Mathewson of Stratford, CT; Ronald (Barbara) Mainor of West Haven, CT; Nine Grandchildren: Nathan, Jordan (Peter); Skylar and Sierra (Stephanie); Raelynn, Garrett, Carson, Hayden and Alaina (Alice). She was preceded in death by her father, Al, her mother Peg, stepmother Lorrie, stepbrother Wayne, and her beloved dog Griffin.
Peggy will always be remembered for her infectious laughter, sense of humor, devotion to family and love of conversation.
In lieu of flowers, Peggy requested memorials to the Humane Society of your choosing and The American Cancer Society.
