Margaret Anne Hilliard

Margaret Anne (“Peg”) Hilliard passed away on February 23, 2026 from complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. Her final days were filled with love and her family is grateful for every moment they had with her.

A native of Philadelphia and graduate of Hallahan High School, Peg fondly remembered bopping and stomping with her friends on the set of “American Bandstand.” Appropriately, she met her husband Tony at a dance. They married on a snowy December day in 1966, driving off in a navy blue Mustang to build a life of adoring kids, goofy basset hounds, lazy cats, fun adventures, and lots of love.

Peg took immense pride in her role as a “Marine Wife” as she, Tony, and their growing family roamed military installations in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. Along the way, she generalled the household, directed the moves, raised the kids, supported the Dad, ran the accounts, sorted the problems, launched the adventures, organized the blood drives, asked the questions, wrote the letters, helped the church, and so much more.

In Georgia, she found her calling as a teacher at Embry Hills UMC Preschool and Kindergarten, delighting in the chance to work with small children of all kinds. Years later, she would light up with fond memories of the boys and girls she taught and the ways they touched her heart. Their artwork and photos adorned her home.

That thread of service, kindness, and outreach ran through retirement as well. She served as a Stephen’s Minister in Acworth, Georgia, offering care and comfort to those in need, and, with Tony, ran her church’s Family Serve program. As she had her whole life, she remained a patient listener, always ready with a warm word to family and friends–even to strangers in the grocery store, who seemed to sense that they could share their worries with her in the checkout line. Peg spent her final years with Tony at Friendsview Retirement community in Newberg, Oregon. Despite the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, her gentle spirit still shone.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Anne Freeth, her daughter-in-law Tammy Jones Hilliard, and her son, John.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Anthony Hilliard, and her children Mark Hilliard of Gainesville, VA, Kathleen Hilliard and her husband Lawrence McDonnell of Ames, IA, and Patricia Thompson and her husband Ryan Thompson of Newberg, OR; her grandchildren – Josiah and Asher Thompson and Alexis Hilliard – who were the light of her life; and her sisters Kathleen Purdy of Doylestown, PA and Anne Johnson of Wildwood, NJ.

To honor Peg, please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association or writing a letter to your representatives to advocate for research, and support for your community. Volunteer or donate to your local hospice organization. Above all, offer a kind word to a stranger as you go through your day. It’s what Peg did all her life. She’d want us to do the same.