May Chilton

May Marguerite (Peggy) Ervin Chilton, born in West Point, Miss., on August 29, 1919, died September 2, 2014, at her home in Coronado, where she had lived for 53 years. She held a BA in English from Smith College and was a long-time member of and many-time office holder in the Coronado Woman’s Club, also taking her part in the Coronado Democratic Club, as a volunteer at the Coronado Public Library and a member of Friends of the Library, and as a Pink Lady at the Coronado hospital. Before moving to Coronado, she was a member of the American Association of University Women. During her life, she held a number of different jobs, including a brief stint as a buyer for Macy’s in New York and the position of a social worker for San Diego County; she also volunteered as a Red Cross driver during World War II. In 1941, she married Harrison Randolph (Jack) Chilton II (1914–2011). While her children were in school, she was a Cub Scout den mother and a Brownie Scout leader and was also active in the PTA.

As a member and contributor to the AEGIS writers’ group in the 1980s, Peggy began writing her memoirs, eventually putting them together with photographs of herself and her extended family. Her family is particularly grateful for this, as it has allowed them access to stories they might never otherwise have known, such as her experiences playing baseball in middle school and her campout in Machu Picchu when she was in Peru with the Experiment for International Living.

She is survived by her sister, Marilouise Jackson-Smart; her son, Harrison Randolph (Randy) Chilton, Jr.; her daughter, Catherine M. (Kate) Chilton; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. She will be much missed by family and friends.

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