Margaret Edwards Durham

Peggy was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 8, 1938, the daughter of Dr. Robert H Durham and Mary Louise (Edwards) Durham. She attended Detroit Country Day School, and graduated from what became known as the Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1956. She was an active student who earned letters in field hockey and basketball, enjoyed bowling, and won many swimming ribbons. She then attended Pembroke College (now Brown University) in Providence, graduating with a bachelor’s in Psychology in 1960.

Following college she went to work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as an assistant in the Psychology Group, and later with MIT’s Urban Planning Dept. She settled in Concord, Mass., and was a long-time resident of the Conantum neighborhood where she raised her family. She held several jobs in the community, including Deputy Town Clerk, executive director of the Concord Chamber of Commerce, plus a stint in administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She also served on town committees including the Board of Appeals, and volunteered in the Emerson Hospital Aftercare Program.

True to her Detroit roots, Peggy loved Motown and also jazz. She had an eye for artwork—principally modern, later branching into Western-themed and Navajo art. She was a devoted dog lover who also had a soft spot for cats.

Peggy maintained her interest in sport, ranging from a 1960s Boston ski club to tennis, playing frequent mixed doubles with local friends. She later joined the Concord Runners club, and also participated in dogsledding and car racing. She was an avid traveler, frequently touring Europe and the American West, plus adventures in Alaska, Hawaii, Tanzania and Zambia. She hiked and camped in many a rugged setting.

After some decades in Concord, she followed her lifelong love of the Rocky Mountains and resettled in Evergreen, Colorado, where she became a mainstay of the local Audubon Society and other nature-oriented associations. After 17 years there, she saw the prudence in coming down from 7500 feet and relocating near family.

Peggy remained in touch with her loyal college friend-group through 70 years, attending annual get-togethers and in recent years holding monthly Zoom calls.

Survivors include two children, Elizabeth D Smith of Lyndeborough NH and Robert E Smith of Geneva Switzerland; daughter-in-law Trudy Harpham of Geneva; a granddaughter, Victoria Lorvig of London UK and her husband Dylan Millington; brothers Robert H Durham Jr and Sidney Durham; and nieces Betsy Floyde and Emily Durham. Longtime Concord friends include Ardis Stiffler Bordman, Brant and the late Molly Johnson, the late Kelly Howe, and many others.

Peggy was predeceased by her first husband, William B Smith, and second husband, E Cary Brown.