Margaret Peterson Strickland, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt died peacefully with her family around her on February 6th. Born July 7th, 1936, in Greensboro, North Carolina, she lived most of her 85 years in Huntsville, AL, but was always happy to get back to her beloved beach town of Fernandina Beach to laugh and sing with her close-knit family. Margaret, who was named for her grandmother, Margaret Powell Peterson, graduated from Mt. Vernon-Ailey High School in 1954. She attended LaGrange College where she was a member of the Alpha Kappa Theta sorority and was freshman representative to the Women’s Athletic Association Council. She transferred to Auburn University (known then as Alabama Polytechnic Institute) in the summer of 1955, where she completed a degree in Secretarial Science. Margaret was a stay-at-home Mom from February 1961 until she started working in February 1984 at the Huntsville Convention & Visitors Bureau (HCVB) as the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director. During her time at the HCVB, she had the opportunity to be actively involved with the community through her service on the Huntsville Heritage Foundation (Big Spring Jam), the Board of Directors of the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association, and the Board of Directors of First Community Health Plan, Inc. For most of her married life, Margaret was active in the Methodist Church and United Methodist Women (UMW) at Trinity United Methodist Church and then at Owens Cross Roads United Methodist Church. Over the years, she served as president, vice-president of UMW, as well as Sunday School Coordinator, Youth Coordinator and Chair of Missions Work Area. Margaret was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 63 years, Jim Strickland and her dear younger brother, Pete Peterson. She is survived by her two sisters, Barbara Couey of Ailey, GA, Dot Alexander and husband, Frank, of Athens, GA; four children, Tina Worcester, Melanie Hack and husband, Armin, Jim Strickland Jr. and wife, Glenda Gillaspy of Blacksburg, VA, and Lisa Prendergast and husband, Maurice; eight grandchildren, Will Worcester and wife, Lori, Lesley Worcester, Isaac VanDiest, Theo VanDiest, Gabriel Hack, Juliana Hack, Emma Strickland, Kate Strickland; and three great-grandchildren, Mya-Marie Tipton, Macon and Campbell Worcester; and a multitude of nieces, nephews, cousins, sister-in-laws, and brother-in-law. Visitation will be at 2 p.m. Saturday February 12 at Owens Cross Roads United Methodist Church, with a Celebration of Life following at the church at 3 p.m. In her memory, donations to Alzheimers’s Association, Harris Home for Children (https://harrishomeforchildren.org/), and United Methodist Church Global Ministries (https://umcmission.org/advance-project/999895/) would support the passions that Margaret held throughout her life.
