Margaret Lois Childress Oppenheimer

Margaret Lois Childress Oppenheimer, 94, died peacefully at her home in St. Louis County on Thursday March 5, 2015. Margaret was preceded in death in 2000 by her husband, Henry E. Oppenheimer, MD, and is survived by a sister, five children, seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Margaret moved to St. Louis in 1939 from Goldengate, a small farming community in southeast Illinois. The middle child of five children, she left the Childress family farm to attend Jewish Hospital School of Nursing, from which she graduated with an RN degree in 1942. In 1943, she married Henry E. Oppenheimer, a St. Louis native who had recently graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine.

By 1950, Margaret and Henry had two children, Robert and James. The young family moved that year from an apartment on Waterman Ave. in St. Louis to Olivette. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Margaret and Henry had three daughters: Elizabeth, Virginia, and Margaret Ann. Margaret Lois was a devoted mother and supporter of her husband's medical career, which included research in diabetes and leadership positions in professional organizations. They traveled widely throughout the world but always cherished their friends, family and home in St. Louis.

She is survived by her sister, Virginia Childress Wharton, Godfrey, Illinois; her children Robert (Michelle), Durango, Colorado; James (Denise Battistone), Fairfax, Virginia; Elizabeth (Brian) Thomas, St. Louis, Missouri; Ginger (Jeff Braswell), Bellingham, Washington; and Margaret Ann (Paul Elliott), Hood River, Oregon; her seven grandchildren; and her 14 great-grandchildren.

After her children were grown, Margaret worked as a volunteer for the Missouri Historical Society and other civic organizations in St. Louis. She was a reserved, generous, kind and patient woman who was deeply loved and admired by her family and friends. Her last years were spent battling dementia, which stole from her the great joy she felt and displayed to all she touched during a long life of devotion to her children, their descendants and this mortal world.

A Memorial Service for Margaret will be held at Salem Methodist Church at 11:30am on Thursday March 19, 2015. A reception will immediately follow the service. Address: 1200 So. Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis MO 63131. (314) 991-0546

Please consider donations in her name to either the Missouri Botanical Gardens or the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.