It has been one year but feels like yesterday that you were here. You would be so proud of Emma graduating from college  and serving in the Army, Alex navigating through nursing school and caring for patients at Obici with compassion. I miss you every day and think of you in the starry nights out in the country, blooms of the flowers and twinkling of the windchimes. You were loved so much and made life better for everyone you touched. Love you always❤️

Margaret’s positivity showed through as she participated in services and events at Oakland Christian UCC in Chuckatuck. Please accept our sincerest condolences to the family as we know Margaret was a loving and kind person.  She will be missed. We are sorry for your loss.

I send my condolences to the family and friends of my NNHS classmate and almost lifelong friend, Margaret Elmore Tolly.  The Drewry/Elmore family friendship began when the Elmores became our West Ave. neighbors, when they moved to Newport News.  Lois and Mabel (my mother) developed a deep friendship as colleagues working as "sales ladies" at the W. T.  Grant store on Washington Ave. The Drewry kids were close friends with Margaret and Kay all through HS. I have always admired the loving, faithful bond between Margaret and Joe, including her caring for him through the many years of his suffering from cancer. May she now RIP for eternity.
Joe Drewry

Julia and Family.  I am very sorry about your mom's passing.  I feel grateful to have known her.  She was always very kind to me and my mom.  I am so happy that she was able to visit me in Connecticut and see the sites and go to a Yankee game on the subway.  I looked forward seeing Margaret each summer when we were at OBX.  She loved the beach and nature.   Since she was such a great gardener, I remember when I got into gardening that I asked her many questions and she was a great help.  I remember her 80th birthday and how much fun she had on the Spirit of Norfolk.  She truly loved life.  Her great smile and sense of humor was contagious.  She will be missed.

Continued from Brenda.
We had wheelchair races while doing PT. Even at times  when Margaret struggled with PT she was always clapping and encouraging someone else.
Margaret would stop on a dime to say hi to someone or ask you to help someone in need. Always thanking anyone that did anything for her. Known for her love taps, if you received one you were lucky. I think it was her way of thanking you for your kindness. 
She always especially watched out for her dear friend Ms.Bobbie. They always had each other’s backs. If one of them was in need of help the other made sure they received it. It was a blessing they were friends and roommates.
The questions of the day were always where is Valerie?  Someone that she knew truly cared for her, a safe place. 
The other was is that Julie? Always thinking she was in the building. 
Without a doubt some of Margaret’s favorite times were on the porch or anywhere outside. Enjoying the flowers, trees, birds and fresh air. We were known with a small group of others as porch people. We would always be outside if we could.
OLPH had not seen anyone quite like Margaret Tolly and without a doubt the halls will feel like something is missing. 
As will the ones that cared for her. 
Margaret was happy and she was also given a gift…. She was Loved and Cared for and received  back all of the Love she had given. 
That Is A Life Well Lived Tolly!!
Your Friend, Brenda ( darling )

Margaret Tolly,   Tolly,   Tolly Tolly Tolly, or Wild Child is how I greeted Margaret.. she would say hey darling.
Margaret was a fiercely independent strong minded woman, and she owned it. 
That helped her with the challenges she faced throughout her life. 
She would openly share her opinion with you. I often told her that there was nothing wrong with sharing your opinion. If you were kind when doing so, she would always say you’re right. 
With any disease comes a lot of losses for the person,  their family and loved ones. But at times you can also get a gift, where someone’s  true heart and soul shines through. That was the case with Margaret she shined brightly!! She could not contain the love and joy she felt when seeing her daughters Julie and Lisa.  She loved talking about them , her husband Joe ( Jo Jo ), her grandchildren Emma and Alex. Also everyone she loved or had loved throughout her life. Always speaking of the things everyone had done for her. I would remind her that she had done a lot for the ones she loved as well. We shared hours and hours talking, sometimes in one day alone.
Margaret Tolly and I shared a lot of fun times. Breakfasts and lunch’s with Joyce and Norma were filled with laughter, drumrolls for the changing of the table clothes, and singing. 
Without a doubt Tolly could out fold me when it came to laundry and I always told her so. 
We spent countless hours in the sunroom when the weather would not allow us to be outside. Playing Nerf Ball, Sticky Ball, doing Art Work, Bingo, Stickers and many Fun activities. A lot of time went to  going through the endless magazines filled with recipes that Julie brought in. Margaret wanted to know what went in everything. I was told on many occasions that I needed to make the recipes in those magazines.
She enjoyed all music fully,  you could not stop her from singing and dancing. We would head to see live entertainment and I would say let’s go do some shaking and baking. She would smile.  Continued..

I am grateful to have had the last year getting to know Margaret. She had a great sense of humor, a love of life and a desire to love and care for others. She always looked out for those around her and wanted to make sure their needs were taken care of. She'd offer the food on her plate and the clothes on her back when she thought they would help someone else.  Her memory always held on to concerns for those she loved, whether they still needed her support, or were gone to a better place where no aid was needed. 

She and I shared a love for nature enjoyed many walks to check out ducks, geese, flowers and trees and she always encouraged me to take a picture, but never were my photos on the same level as hers. Her eye for photography was amazing, and she shared so many close ups of butterflies, azaleas, flowers and trees that were just magical. 

At times, like anyone, she would get frustrated, worried or angry at her circumstance but she always returned to joy when she heard her daughters' voices or was told family would be coming by to share a meal or an afternoon or when she flipped through pictures of family members and days gone by.  

She loved playing games and having fun, joking me that the staff at her care home would wonder "what those old b's were up to." It sometimes bothered me that she assumed we were high school buddies or old friends, but in the scheme of things, I considered myself fortunate to be someone she regarded as a friend. She was a bright light and I am so lucky to have been in that glow for a while.

Rest Easy "Margarita". Thanks for always taking me in on holidays as my family lived out of state. As your honorary (favorite) daughter, I did appreciate the honor of being able to load the dishwasher at those holiday gatherings. According to the real (but not favorite) daughters, you would not allow/trust them to complete this task.  Most likely this is how I moved into first place on the daughter list, but we won't tell anyone. You were as tough as they come and when the deck was stacked against you, you always seemed to manage to bounce back. When memories were hard to come by or keep straight, you never forgot your love for your family and friends and never lost your sense of humor or love of nature and animals. Even when you moved into OLPH, you looked out for everyone there and spoke often of your appreciation of the support you received from everyone. To those of us who knew you for decades or those who just got to know you, you left an impression on this world and hopefully those memories will give everyone whose life you touched strength to keep moving forward. To Julia and Lisa, when you feel a slap on your butt, or a pinch on your thigh, or hear someone say, "I will smack the "s" out of you", know she is keeping watch over you. And to Emma and Alex who she spoke of with such love even until the end; know you have her strength running through your blood too.  Margaret loved to look through her picture albums often and entertained us with stories about each and every member of her family.  And to her new family who cared for her until the end, we thank you for your compassion and care. We all know she was happy and surrounded by love and that will hopefully give everyone peace .
Your FAVORITE daughter, Jen MacCracken

OBITUARY

Margaret Elmore Tolly

December 13, 1939 – March 14, 2024

Smith & Williams Funeral Home/Kempsville

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