Margaret Mary Mehmel

Margaret Mary Mehmel, 96, of East Sandwich MA passed away on Thursday, June 15, 2023. She was born on April 23, 1927 in Framingham MA to Gertrude and Stillman Richardson of Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Margaret grew up in Natick during the depression, and had many stories to tell of her early life. Going into Boston with a girlfriend on the trolley for the day when she was young. Watching Johnny Kelley and Tarzan Brown run the Boston Marathon. Listening to a young John F. Kennedy give a talk at a women’s professional meeting.

While accompanying a friend on a trip to Washington DC she met her husband to be, Charles (Chuck) H. Mehmel Jr. of Chicago. They married in 1949, and settled in northern Virginia. They moved to Cataumet MA in 1974 after Chuck retired from the Navy.

Margaret was a secretary for the Massachusetts Hotel Association prior to her marriage to Chuck, and later brought her secretarial skills to the Pentagon and the Marymount School in Arlington VA. After moving to the Cape, she continued her secretarial work with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, where she was cited for her assistance with the centennial celebration of the Service’s Woods Hole location. She retired in 1988.

Once both retired, Margaret and Chuck made numerous trips throughout the lower 48 states, and also traveled to Alaska, Quebec, and Great Britain.

Margaret loved to read and to garden. She also enjoyed time spent with her family, including her granddaughter’s cat named Christmas.

She is survived by three children: Connie Mehmel of Cashmere WA, Elise Kreiss and husband Paul Kreiss of Baltimore MD, and Charles (Chris) Mehmel of East Sandwich MA. She also leaves three grandchildren: Ian Bennett and wife Celia Arauz of Federal Way WA, Matthew Mehmel of Jamaica Plain MA, and Rachel Mehmel of East Sandwich MA, as well as two great-grandchildren: Sarely Gonzales of Portland OR, and Maria Gonzales of Tacoma WA.

A private graveside service will take place at the Massachusetts National Cemetery. A celebration of life gathering is planned for later in the year.

Memorial donations can be made to the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in support of Dr. Rachel Huckfeldt’s research in inherited retinal diseases (IRDs). Gifts can be made online at https://www.masseyeandear.org/makeagift or mailed to Mass Eye and Ear c/o Development Office, 243 Charles St., Boston MA 02114. Please make checks payable to Mass Eye and Ear and include Margaret Mehmel on the memo line.