Wanda Peggy Kemp

Peggy Kemp of Fort Collins, Colorado passed away at the Poudre Valley Hospital on the first day of December, 2015. Peggy was born Wanda Peterson on November 5th, 1924 in the town of Brooks in Alberta, Canada. Peggy always described her upbringing as “a close knit family.” Times were hard as the family was poor, but laughter, love and family support were always in abundance. She describes those times growing up in the depression era as “we were poor but we didn’t know we were poor because everyone was poor.”After working as a switchboard operator in Vancouver, she met her future husband, Graham Kemp. Peggy and Graham were married on December 22, 1948. The couple moved to Palestine, Illinois and opened a veterinary practice where Peggy worked alongside Graham testing and treating the animals. A career change for Graham into the field of public health brought the opportunity for the couple to relocate to Ibadan, Nigeria. While Graham established the Ibadan Virus Lab, Peggy was busy raising their four children including baby Kristen who was only 5 weeks old when they arrived in Africa. After seven years in Africa, the family relocated briefly to Puerto Rico and Connecticut before finally settling in Fort Collins where Graham worked for the Center for Disease Control and Peggy continued raising the children. Peggy had many hobbies and interests outside the home. She was a charter member of the High Country Orchid Club where she received many awards and accolades for her orchid cultivation skills. Peggy loved the wide open spaces of Colorado. One of her favorite activities was a good session of fly fishing on the ranch property near Walden. Also, Peggy enjoyed competing in several bridge clubs in Fort Collins which she viewed as important to “keep the mind sharp.” Peggy is preceded in death by her husband, Graham Kemp, brothers Carl and Hugo and sisters Tilley Oliver and Sylvia McNair. She is survived by her sister Selma Hadden of British Columbia. She is also survived by her son Barry and his wife Paula of Chico, California, daughter Marne of Mission, British Columbia and her four children Misha who resides in Saudi Arabia with his wife Rainey and their two children Jacqueline and Ryder, Levi who resides in British Columbia with his wife Aman and their daughter Nova Elise, Shaenna and Cierra who both reside in British Columbia. Daughter Brenda of Chico, California and her four daughters Leela who lives in Denver, Summer who lives in Seattle and Annika and Zoey both of Chico. Daughter Kristen and her husband Alan Buchholz of Fort Collins along with their three children Tom Briggs who lives with his wife Liz and their sons Julian and Rigel in Greeley Colorado, Michelle Briggs who lives in Sacramento, California, and Amanda Campbell who lives with her husband Scott in Chicago. A memorial gathering will be held on Thursday, the tenth of December from 3PM to 5PM at the Allnutt Funeral Home at 650 West Drake Road in Fort Collins.