Margaret "Peggy" Worthington Richardson

Margaret “Peggy” Richardson passed away on the Fourth of July 2026. She remained fully engaged in sharing her boundless enthusiasm for life and love with her family, many friends and her beloved Port Republic, Virginia community until a brief illness brought the curtain down.

Peggy, one of four children of Richard “Dick” Worthington and Maude Kemper Worthington, was born on September 25, 1932. Her early life was a happy time marked by long visits to Dick’s childhood home in Ivy, Virginia and Maude’s ancestral home of Bogota on the South River in eastern Rockingham County, Virginia surrounded by grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Because of her father’s work as an engineer with the Virginia Department of Highways, the family moved frequently from one Virginia community to another throughout Peggy’s childhood.

Peggy possessed a talent to make friends quickly and flourish in new unfamiliar locales. The last move of her childhood landed Peggy in Warrenton High School for her senior year. Although starting the year as a stranger, Peggy played on the basketball team and was selected class valedictorian.

Peggy graduated from Longwood College (now Longwood University) in 1955 with a double major in English and Spanish. Her Kappa Delta sorority sisters chose her to be the Chapter President during her senior year.

Upon graduation, Peggy launched her career in education by teaching in a number of schools. In 1961, Peggy married Al Richardson, a former State Department diplomatic courier, who shared Peggy’s zest for making new friends and exploring new places. Al and Peggy spent the next several years teaching in Guatemala and Lima, Peru. Upon their return to the United States, Peggy and Al were employed by the Fairfax County School system.

Peggy rose to the upper echelons of the school system during a time the County was experiencing explosive growth. In 1975 she was chosen to be one of the County’s first female high school principals. Peggy, who was serving as Associate Principal at the newly built Chantilly High School, accepted the challenge of leading Herndon High School. By working closely with staff, students, and parents and conducting surveys regularly, Peggy achieved significant improvement in student conduct and academic performance during her Principalship.

Peggy moved to the Central Office to serve as Director of Student Services of the Fairfax Schools in 1978. Her wide array of responsibilities included directing the gifted program, special ed program and registration of foreign students. In 1983 she was awarded her Doctorate in leadership and administration by Virginia Tech.

Although she retired from the Fairfax School System in 1988, Peggy still loved to work. She began consulting for the Virginia Department of Education and taught educators how to develop healthy environments for young people. Next, she worked for Pride, an organization in Atlanta, Georgia, as their representative in North Carolina. After that, she worked for the University of Louisville for five years. The University had been given a large grant to help prevent the use of drugs by youth and to create healthy environments for the students. As part of this job, she set up and taught workshops in the southeastern states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Next, Peggy worked for a research group in northern Virginia and taught as an adjunct professor at James Madison University.

With the death of Al in 2001, Peggy, who had been dividing her time between Al’s hometown of Selma, North Carolina and Port Republic, settled in as a full-time resident of Port Republic. She was quick to tell folks there was no place better on earth to live than Port Republic.

Peggy’s home was a house built in 1820 when Port Republic was flourishing as a center of commerce on the South River by John Dundore, a successful businessman. Peggy loved her village’s history and joined the Community Alliance for Preservation dedicated to protecting Port Republic’s character at a time of encroaching urbanization.

Peggy’s devotion of her considerable energy and financial contributions to preserving Port Republic were recognized by the village. In 2004, Peggy was selected as the “mayor” of Port Republic. Peggy remarked that this honorific title brought with it only one duty-to turn on the lights of the village Christmas tree.

Until her death, bridge games, a full social calendar, keeping abreast of the news and welcoming a steady stream of visitors to her home consumed Peggy’s waking hours. She loved her neighbors who reciprocated with their steadfast love and support.

Peggy is survived by her brother Bill Worthington (spouse Jo), her nephews Tom Williamson (spouse Janet Brown), Richard “Rick” Ross (spouse Jodi), Greg Richardson spouse Ann), her nieces Mary Bandish, Catherine Dunham (spouse Jeff), Kim McLaughlin (spouse Brian), Lea O’Brien and Rebecca (spouse Scott Fritz) and eight great nephews and nieces.

A memorial service for Peggy will be held at eleven o’clock am September 26, 2026, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, Port Republic followed by a reception at the Port Republic Town Hall.