Marguerite "Peggy" Elmes

Marguerite “Peggy” Elmes was born in Floral Park, New York, and was the youngest of three children. She spent the summers of her childhood in Maine with family, and enjoyed swimming in the lake that their cabin was on. Peggy was always a social person, who sometimes enjoyed it too much and got herself into a little trouble in class. She was always a fan of art, and after high school attended an art school and took some classes. Peggy was also a member of the Floral Park Junior Women's Club.

In 1950, after meeting on a blind date, Peggy married Stanley Albert Elmes, and the two of them enjoyed 42 years of marriage. Stanley and Peggy had two beautiful daughters together, Susan and Linda, who they raised in Wantagh, New York. Their family had many cats, dogs, and bunnies as pets over the years. As their girls grew up, they did many different activities as a family together, including- camping, boating, skating, sledding, and attending lots of family holiday parties and events.

Peggy was always a very hard worker and provider for her family. As Stanley's health deteriorated later in life, she fought hard to provide for her family and worked two or three jobs at a time, from sun up to late into the night. She spent her days working in the cafeteria and doing miscellaneous work around Levittown Memorial High School, and then MacArthur High School. Her evenings were spent going door-to-door and making phone calls, conducting surveys for market research.

As her children grew and she entered retirement, Peggy and Stanley moved into a retirement community in Riverhead, New York, and she enjoyed playing cards and taking trips with others in her community. It wasn't long after she started her retirement that her first grandchild, Angelica, was born to her daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Michael, and she helped to take care of her. It was only a few years later in 1993 that her husband, Stanley, passed away, and a few months after that her second grandchild, Arielle, was born.

When her daughter, Linda, and her family relocated to Seattle in 1993, Peggy decided to join them. They only spent two years in Seattle before moving to her final home in North St. Paul, Minnesota. Peggy adored taking care of and helping raising her two grandchildren, and also was a great asset in helping take care of the family home. It was in these later years that she was truly able to enjoy herself, and she spent her time creating art, reading, doing puzzles, eating many desserts, and her favorite activity- casino trips! She loved to travel, and always loved taking her annual trip to visit her sister, Betty, and two nephews, Fred and Greg, in North Carolina.

She loved bear claw donuts, burgers, pot roast, hot dogs, pasta salad, an ice cold glass of Diet Coke, and without a doubt her favorite food was cake and ice cream. Peggy always had room for dessert, and always made sure to have plenty of jars of candy in her living room for guests. Her lifelong love of art included creating water color paintings, and eventually evolved to coloring books, and she went through many, many coloring books. Peggy was a very devoted and loving grandmother to her two granddaughters, and deeply cared for her two daughters, son-in-law, and her entire family.

As Peggy's health continued to decline in her later years, Linda and Michael took on a new role as her caregivers, and took care of her to the very best of their abilities. It was not until the very end that they could no longer care for her in their home, and she spent her final days at the Pillars Hospice in Oakdale, where she passed away peacefully in the presence of her family.

She will be deeply missed by all that knew her. She is preceded in death by her husband, Stanley; parents, Carl and Margaret Schaefer; and siblings, Elizabeth Burton and Charles Schaeffer. She is survived by her daughters, Linda (Michael) Napoli and Susan Elmes; granddaughters, Angelica and Arielle Napoli; nephews, Fred and Greg Burton; the extended Carson family, and many more family and friends.

A Gathering of Family and Friends will be held Friday, January 11th, 2019 from 4:00-7:00pm with Sharing of Memories at 6pm at WULFF FUNERAL HOME, 1485 White Bear Ave, St. Paul, MN 55106. Interment in Calverton National Cemetery, Long Island, New York.