Margaret Hall Hornbaker

Margaret Hall Hornbaker, 78, passed away early Wednesday morning, February 3, at her beloved home of several years in historic Annapolis. She was born in 1937 on a farm in Lothian, Maryland to William Henry Hall IV and Katharine Moore Hall. Mr. Hall was a tobacco farmer and served for sixty years as a Director of the Farmers National Bank of Maryland. Margaret attended grade school in Lothian and graduated from Stuart Hall School in Staunton, Virginia. She attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1959. Margaret subsequently earned a master’s degree in education from Radcliffe College in 1960. She married and in time relocated to Hagerstown, Maryland, where she raised two sons as a devoted mother while active in the community through the Hagerstown Day Nursery and Maryland Symphony Orchestra Guild. In 1991, she moved to Seattle, Washington to be closer to her sons. While in Seattle, she returned to education, earning a Masters of Public Administration in 1996 and a doctorate, concentrating in environmental policy, in 2002 from the University of Washington. Margaret was active in a number of genealogical and alumni associations, including the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, the Society of Maureen Duvall Descendants, the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland, and the Bryn Mawr Alumnae Association. She loved to participate in walking tours and to SCUBA dive in exotic locales. She had a lifelong passion for gardening and horticulture, often competing successfully in competitions. She embraced her latest role as “granny” to Thomas’ son, Zal, in her last year and was thrilled to have a grandson. She is survived by her eldest son John Harlan Hornbaker III and her daughter-in-law Sharon Anne Knight of San Francisco, California, her younger son Thomas Sellman Hornbaker, her daughter-in-law Rahaleh Nassri and grandson Zal Henry Nassri Hornbaker of New York City, her brother William Henry Hall V of Longwood, Florida, her cousin Susanne Hall Smith of Annapolis and her long time devoted companion Howard Earl McCurdy, of Bethesda, Maryland and Seattle, Washington. A service is planned for Monday, February 8, at St. James' Parish, 5757 Solomons Island Rd., Lothian, Maryland, at 11:00am, where she will be buried, three miles from her childhood home. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Bryn Mawr College, 101 N Merion Avenue, Helfarian Hall, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899 or to St. James' Parish, 5757 Solomons Island Road, Lothian, MD 20711.