Margaret Allan Reep

"Peggy"

LONG BEACH - When it came helping others, Peggy Reep was never one to sit on the sidelines.

Throughout her decades in the Long Beach area, Reep was a tireless volunteer and pioneer for many local charities.

"She was a role model for independent woman and a real inspiration to everybody she came into contact with," said daughter-in-law Pat Reep.

Peggy Reep, a longtime Los Alamitos resident, died on Friday of natural causes. She was 91.

A wife and mother of two, she was an icon for the Assistance League of Long Beach and became their president in 1990. During her tenure, the League expanded and paid off the mortgage on the Assistance League Thrift Shop.

Reep was also involved with the Casa Youth Shelter and the Memorial Women's Hospital League. She was named Los Alamitos Woman of the Year, Americana Woman of the Year from Cypress College and Soroptimist Woman of Distinction in Health.

A former school nurse for the Los Alamitos School District, Reep had a strong interest in health education and eventually became one of the top health, nutrition and sex education instructors at Los Alamitos High School.

"She really believed in education and bettering the lives of children," said Pat Reep, who as a teenager had her future mother-in-law as an instructor.

Born Margaret Emma Allan on Feb. 13, 1919, in the prairie town of Plankinton, S.D., she was one of five children of a Methodist minister. She graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and earned a nursing degree in pediatrics Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore.

Reep went on to postgraduate work at the University of Chicago, where she met her future mate, Samuel Austen Reep, who was working on a doctorate in finance.

The two were married in Sioux Falls in 1947 and moved to California, settling into a $21,000 home on Druid Lane in Rossmoor.

Tragedy struck in 1970 when her husband suffered a fatal heart attack while teaching class at Cal State Long Beach.

"Mom became the rock of the family," said her son, Thomas, in a biography written for her 90th birthday. "She let some of the line out for Jim (the oldest) and me but had certain unarguable rules ... school, grades and career were essential."

Reep remained active in the community in her later years and had a passion for travel. She explored many countries including Croatia, Italy, Iceland, Finland, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Australia and Russia.

Pat Reep said the family in 2009 had a blowout birthday party to celebrate her nine decades.

"We thought she was a tiny bit frail at her 90th birthday, but looking back now, she was a real powerhouse," she said.

Reep will be buried in Minneapolis next to her husband. Plans are pending for a local memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Assistance League of Long Beach, 6220 E. Spring St. Long Beach, CA 90815.

Reep is preceded in death by her husband, the former dean of the School of Business at Cal State Long Beach, and her eldest son, James Allan Reep. She is survived by her son Thomas Austen Reep, daughter-in-laws Fatima Reep and Pat Reep, her five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Luyben Family Dilday-Mottell Mortuary (562-425-6401

www.luybenfamilyd-m.com