Margaret P Foster

What a Life

Margaret Lee Perritt Foster died on Monday, December 1, 2025, which was also her mother’s birthday.

Margaret Lee was born on July 30, 1947, to John and Gelynne Perritt and was raised in Waldo, Arkansas, alongside her younger sister, Tricia. An avid reader from an early age, she was known to read encyclopedias for pleasure. During her eighth- and ninth-grade years, she played on the “pumpkin squad” basketball team, determined to be a good player despite her coach’s gentle suggestions that cheerleading might better suit her talents. She especially loved “running lines,” a conditioning drill most players disliked, though she eventually conceded that dribbling and shooting were not her strengths and joined the cheerleading squad in tenth grade. As a teenager, she served as a counselor at Camp High Point in Mena, Arkansas, where she earned the nickname “Boots” from Brownie campers and fellow Girl Scout counselors. She loved camping, fishing, and the outdoors. In high school, she was selected for Arkansas Girls State and was named Miss Waldo High School in 1965.

After graduating from Waldo High School in 1965, Margaret Lee attended Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University) in Magnolia. During her college years, she was a cheerleader all four years, a member of the 1967 Homecoming Court, and was crowned Miss Southern State College in 1968. She belonged to several honor societies, worked on the staff of The Bray (the college newspaper), sang in the choir, and was named Miss Arkansas Young Republican in 1968. During her junior year, she worked on Winthrop Rockefeller’s successful 1968 gubernatorial campaign. She completed her studies in 1969, earning a degree in English with minors in journalism and history.

Margaret Lee began her professional career teaching at Foster High School in Lewisville, a segregated all-Black school, where she was one of very few—if not the only—white teachers. She later taught English and Speech and sponsored the cheerleading squad at Lewisville High School, followed by a year teaching English literature at Magnolia High School.

In May 1970, Margaret Lee Perritt met Stephen Lane Foster at the Gulf Station in Lewisville, Arkansas, after attending the Foster High School Junior–Senior banquet. Steve followed her home that night and unsuccessfully tried to persuade her to let him into her apartment to “check for burglars.” Their first date was equally memorable—and unusual—beginning with a drive from Magnolia to Lewisville, then back to Magnolia to meet friends, a movie (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), a late-night stop at a honky-tonk outside El Dorado where they shared their first kiss, and another failed attempt by Steve to gain entry to her apartment. Margaret Lee later described it as the weirdest date she had ever been on. Despite this, their courtship continued, including many dates to the Red Barn and Pizza Hut in Texarkana.

Raised with one sister, Margaret Lee found life with Steve and his two brothers to be quite different. At family meals, her Emily Post–approved table settings did not go unnoticed. Steve’s younger brother, Tim, once proudly announced, “You can tell Margaret Lee set the table!” Tim adored her and followed her everywhere.

Margaret Lee and Steve were married on March 26, 1972. Steve often said she saved his life. Over nearly 54 years of marriage, they lived in five states. After their wedding, Margaret Lee moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, while Steve served in the Air Force. Missing the teaching hiring window, she joined South Central Bell as a service representative and was quickly promoted into management. A second promotion brought her to Birmingham, Alabama, while Steve completed his degree at Louisiana Tech, driving eight hours every weekend to see her. They enjoyed weekend trips to Seagrove, Florida. A later move took them to Mendham, New Jersey, where Margaret Lee fell in love with New York City—its theaters, museums, and restaurants. She worked for AT&T’s corporate headquarters as a training manager in Basking Ridge before later relocating to Atlanta, where she oversaw AT&T’s installation of pay phones in airports across the country, successfully coordinating with union representatives to ensure projects were completed properly and on time.

In both New Jersey and Atlanta, Margaret Lee and Steve welcomed many visits from family and friends. She especially cherished time spent with her nieces, including trips to New York City filled with back-to-back matinees, evening shows, and ballet performances. She delighted in sharing her love of music and theater, a passion that influenced later generations of great-nieces and great-nephews. Other nieces fondly recall Spring Break trips to Atlanta, complete with Broadway shows at the Fox Theatre, Braves games, visits to Six Flags and Dave & Buster’s, and nail appointments with “Aunt Maggie.”

Margaret Lee and Steve loved to travel. Winters often found them in Colorado enjoying snow and mountain views, while spring and summer meant trips to the beach, where she loved sleeping with doors and windows open to hear the waves. In later years, her sister Tricia frequently joined them. A lifelong Arkansas Razorbacks fan, Margaret Lee especially loved Razorback basketball. She and Steve attended the 1994 national championship game when Arkansas defeated Duke and followed the team to Seattle the following year for the Final Four.

Margaret Lee took early retirement from AT&T in 1999, and in 2001 she and Steve retired to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to be closer to their mothers. She sang in the choir at First United Methodist Church of Hot Springs, led the children’s choir, and played piano for dementia patients at The Caring Place. She and Steve attended countless sporting events, school programs, and recitals for their grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Described by her brother-in-law Phil as “remarkable—someone who basically succeeded at everything she tried,” Margaret Lee possessed an extraordinary memory and sharp mind. She loved driving her BMW convertible with the top down, reading history, watching classic films, and reciting dialogue from memory. She was fascinated by English and Egyptian history, met five U.S. presidents, and once met Joe Garagiola and Mickey Mantle on The Today Show. She adored trees so much that she and Steve purchased—but never lived in—a house they refused to remodel because it would require cutting down oak trees. She was a gifted pianist and organist, loved to laugh, loved pizza, loved giving gifts, and treasured fresh flowers, which Steve bought for her almost weekly in recent years.

Even as her health declined, her mind remained extraordinary. She could recall conversations word-for-word and, in her final days, focused on reciting the 23rd Psalm, which she soon completed entirely from memory. Margaret Lee had a strong faith and lived a rich, meaningful life. This summary only begins to capture the force she was. Since her passing, Steve has been deeply touched by how many people remarked on the love they shared—a love evident to all who knew them.

Margaret Lee is survived by her husband, Steve; her sister, Patricia Niebergall (Marc); her brother-in-law, Phil Foster (Gin); her nieces, Holly Elmore (Greg), Whitney Moore (Taylor), and Cameron Machen (Matt); her nephew, Chase Foster (Corbin); her many great-nieces and great-nephews; and special friends Darlene and Jim Gill, Cindi and Terry Hyatt, Carolyn and L.J. LeFevers, Barbara and Don Nason, Jane and Jim Randall, and Margie and Robert Whitehead. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Gelynne Perritt; Steve’s parents, Joe Ray and Lucille Foster; and her brother-in-law, Tim Foster.

Memorials may be made to The Caring Place, 101 Quapaw Ave., Hot Springs, AR 71901. Memories and condolences may be shared at Gross Funeral Home’s website, www.grossfuneralhome.com

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