Margaret Evans Foster

July 16, 1929 - July 2, 2015

The Funeral Mass for Margaret Florence ""Peggy"" Foster will be celebrated on Saturday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary, 790 26 1/2 Rd. A reception will follow at 2:30 p.m. on the third floor of Escalante Hall at Colorado Mesa University.

Please wear your favorite color.

The Rosary will be Friday, July 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Callahan Edfast Mortuary, 2515 Patterson Rd.

In lieu of flowers, Peggy Foster requested memorial donations be made to Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, 245 S. First St., Grand Junction, 81501; Colorado Mesa University, 1450 N. 12th St., Grand Junction, 81501; Immaculate Heart of Mary, 790 26 1/2 Rd., Grand Junction, 81506; or Western Colorado Community Foundation, 225 N. Fifth St., #505, Grand Junction, 81501.

Margaret Florence ""Peggy"" Foster

July 16, 1929 - July 2, 2015

I, Margaret Florence ""Peggy"" Foster was born July 16, 1929 in Nashville, Tennessee to Owen Stuart Evans and Marie Esther (Miller) Evans. I joined two brothers and one sister, O.S., Mary Cummings and Johnny. Four years later our family was complete with the birth of my younger sister, Ann Therese.

My childhood growing up in Nashville was idyllic, although times were tight as the country was enduring the Great Depression. We entertained ourselves by playing all variety of games in our neighborhood ranging from follow the arrows to red rover, hopscotch and hide and go seek under the street lamp in the Zager's yard. We also wrote plays, made our own costumes and performed in the Seigenthaler's back yard. Yet we were in the south at a time of segregation, a fact that was lost on me when I was young. I remember as a little girl choosing to drink out of the water fountain marked colored as I thought the water would be colored.

We all attended grammar school at the Cathedral of the Incarnation taught by the Sisters of Mercy. Part way through grammar school catastrophe struck our household; one night my father suffered a brain aneurism while he was on the porch sitting in the rocking chair waiting for us to finish the dishes so we could go for an evening drive. When we came out to go we found him slumped over in the chair with his pipe in his mouth. It was tragic as he was a great father and a wonderful man. My oldest brother, O.S., left school to help run the family business, Evans Hailey Plumbing and Heating. At night a priest studied with him so he could graduate with his high school class. And yet as a family we survived and made it through.

I attended high school at Saint Bernard's Academy. After graduating I was off to Falls Business College where I studied stenography and bookkeeping. The college was located over the drugstore in downtown Nashville. Coffee was five cents so we would run down and grab a cup at every break.

When I finished at Barnes I got my first real job working as a bookkeeper for vocational rehab with the State of Tennessee Department of Education.

In 1950 I met my husband, Bill, on a blind date. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, KY with the Wyoming National Guard. It seems that we were simply destined to get together as originally he was set up on a date with another girl from Iron City, but her mother was sick so I filled in for her. It was a formal Christmas party for the local Internal Revenue Service. I had a prom dress to wear and, although we didn't know anyone, we had the best time.

Bill promptly set out courting me and he came to visit as frequently as he could. He brought me gladiolas, which I thought was funny as gladiolas reminded me of funerals. I left them on the ledge above my desk and they fell into my files and made quite a mess. My mother thought he was a crazy, country bumpkin as he tended to lie in the grass and she was certain he would get chiggers. We had a date for the Sigma Chi annual dance but there was a freak blizzard and the dance was cancelled. Nevertheless, he showed up on my doorstep. My mother let him in to visit and although I thought he should stay the night at the end of the evening she gave him a flashlight and sent him back out into the storm.

In May he was honorably discharged, but rather than going back to Laramie he stayed in Nashville and lived at the Vanderbilt Sigma Chi House. He got a job selling Colliers Encyclopedias during that summer in Nashville. He fit right in with all of my friends as we swam, played poker and generally had a wonderful time. On my birthday he proposed and gave me a ring. We planned a June wedding for the following year, 1952. At the end of the summer he returned to Laramie to go back to college. Bill came out to Nashville to see me on Armistice Day and I was tired of waiting to get married. I told him I thought we should either break up or get married soon. So I got busy and made my own wedding dress and we were married at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, in Nashville on December 29, 1951.

We flew to Louisville and took a train to see my sister, Ann, who was a postulant in the convent in Cincinnati. While in Cincinnati we had dinner and I had to share my cocktail with him as he was only 20 (in Wyoming the drinking age was 19). After our visit we boarded the train and went to live in Laramie, Wyoming.

In Laramie after a bit of searching I found employment at Midwest Sporting Goods as a bookkeeper. The only issue was my southern accent, as I had to learn to speak quickly like they did in Wyoming as compared to Tennessee. One example that comes to mind was the time when a customer came in asking about a thirty ot six. In Tennessee we said thirty ote six, so as I could not understand what he wanted I had to call for help from another clerk. It was a fun store to work in as they sold jewelry, china and sporting goods. The sporting goods were marketed to high school athletic teams all over Wyoming so I learned all about the state of Wyoming fairly quickly.

In the spring, we had to go see the Dean of the Law School because as a veteran Bill was allowed to enter after two years of pre-law. Thankfully, we were successful. Throughout our time in Laramie, while Bill was in college and law school, he worked for the Union Pacific railroad in the switchyard.

That was our life for three and one half years and we thought we would never have kids. Then finally in November 1954 we had our first child, Ann Therese. In the spring Bill graduated second in his class. He was a charter member of ODK, which was an honorary society recognizing students for their academic achievements. He went to school with a number of notable characters including Jerry Spence and Senator Alan Simpson.

After graduation, he went right to work in Denver for Keller Blumenthal, a corporate and securities law firm. We lasted a year in the big city during which we had our second child, William Edward, who arrived in February 1956. We then moved to Grand Junction to work for Colonel Gillenwaters, an entrepreneur who was in the uranium mining business, cloud seeding and gold mining, just to name a few of his ventures.

Soon thereafter Bill chose to go into private practice splitting his time between Palisade, where he shared an office with Wayne Aspinall, and downtown Grand Junction where he shared space with Bill Rosso. He finally ended up in the First National Bank building where Terry Farina joined him. By now we had added three more kids to our brood with Timothy Evans, Elizabeth Marie and Laura Ellen. At this point Bill chose to run for the State House and was elected in 1964. Right after he started his legislative term we added one more to our family as Peter was born in January of 1965. Bill served only one term as the time away was untenable. In 1969 we rounded out the family with the arrival of Michael Stewart.

For the next 20 years we lived the American dream chasing kids, traveling, volunteering and making life long friends, like the inimitable Lena Elliott. Our focus was tennis, politics, swimming, skiing and raising kids. During this time we moved from a small house on Bunting near the college into a big farmhouse at 1701 Orchard Ave. where we lived for 18 years. The Orchard house was three stories with the master bedroom on the first floor and three bedrooms on the second floor and two bedrooms on the third floor. I had ropes bolted into the floor for a fire escape. It had a big yard and served us well. Although there was an elementary school across the street I insisted the kids attend a Catholic school a mile away. Bill and I also found time to travel with family and friends all over the world. One of my favorite trips was to Spain, Portugal and Morocco with Kenny Johnson and the Christensen's. I also really enjoyed our trip to Sweden. Traveling with Bill was just such a fun adventure. Finally, we built our dream house at 2679 Homestead Road and only two years after moving in we lost Bill in 1983.

We started the next generation the following year as Rena Marie was born on February 24, (Bill's birthday) 1984. Thus I embarked on my life as the matriarch of the Foster clan. My time was filled raising our children, volunteering in the community and traveling. I was fortunate to work with a variety of boards in town ranging from Powderhorn Ski Area, Channel Six, Hilltop Foundation, to the library and many more in between.

I was fortunate to find a couple of wonderful traveling buddies, particularly Marion Gottesfeld. Over the next 30 years we literally circumnavigated the globe. Our trips included Norway, Turkey and following Marco Polo's route across China to name just a few.

At the end of the day, my true legacy lies in my seven children, 20 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with more to come. Hint, hint. In closing I will quote from the prayer: ""I'm Free""

Perhaps my parting seemed all too brief;

Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts, and peace to thee.

God wanted me now, He set me free.

Published in The Daily Sentinel on July 5, 2015

Margaret Florence ""Peggy"" Foster

July 16, 1929 - July 2, 2015

The Funeral Mass for Margaret Florence ""Peggy"" Foster will be celebrated on Saturday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary, 790 26 1/2 Rd. A reception will follow at 2:30 p.m. on the third floor of Escalante Hall at Colorado Mesa University.

Please wear your favorite color.

The Rosary will be Friday, July 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary, 2515 Patterson Rd.

In lieu of flowers, Peggy Foster requested memorial donations be made to Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, 245 S. First St., Grand Junction, 81501; Colorado Mesa University, 1450 N. 12th St., Grand Junction, 81501; Immaculate Heart of Mary, 790 26 1/2 Rd., Grand Junction, 81506; or Western Colorado Community Foundation, 225 N. Fifth St., #505, Grand Junction, 81501.

Published in The Daily Sentinel on July 9, 2015