Margaret Mary Miller Trebat

Margaret Mary Miller Trebat of Rio de Janeiro and New York City was the heart and soul of our family. Margaret was born in Rio on June 24, 1949, to Jardelina Amaral of Recife, Brazil, and Edgar Allen Miller, an American originally from Pennsylvania. Throughout her life, she was proud of, and openly proclaimed, her dual-national heritage.

Her early childhood years were spent in Rio with her sister, Iracema, and her parents. She excelled in school from an early age, with a particular interest in mathematics and the English language. As a teenager, Margaret spent a formative year with her beloved Miller family in Reading, Pennsylvania, before returning to Rio to finish her undergraduate studies at the Federal University of Rio. It was at this time that she met her future husband, Tom, an American from Chicago, in a chance encounter in Rio.

Margaret and Tom soon became inseparable and made plans to move to the United States in 1973 to begin their graduate studies at Vanderbilt University. Their marriage in Nashville that same year was a joyous family occasion. It was the beginning of Margaret and Tom’s happy 53-year marriage and a beautiful journey that would weave often between the U.S. and Brazil.

Margaret and Tom welcomed their first child, Gabrielle Louise Miller Trebat, into the family while pursuing their graduate studies. Margaret completed her Master’s degree in mathematics with distinction in 1975. Shortly thereafter, Margaret and Tom found an opportunity to return to Rio to continue their respective graduate studies. During that period, they welcomed a son, Nicholas, into their growing family. An academic position for Tom brought them back to the U.S. in the late 1970s and soon led to other opportunities for the family on the East Coast. Eventually they settled in Westport, Connecticut, and rejoiced in the arrival of two more sons, Patrick Joseph and Thomas Joseph Jr. Margaret cared lovingly for her husband and children every day of her life, to their eternal gratitude. Working alongside her dear sister Iracema, Margaret was also devoted to the care of her own mother, Dona Jardelina, until Dona Jardelina passed away at the age of 109 in November 2025.

Margaret was a teacher through and through: rigorous, yet kind and patient. She enjoyed a long career as a mathematics teacher in Connecticut public high schools, most notably teaching advanced calculus and preparing legions of grateful students for success in college and in life. At one point, her school district in Fairfield, Connecticut, nominated her for a federal prize for excellence in the teaching of mathematics. When another career opportunity brought Tom and Margaret back to Rio in 2012, she continued for a number of years to teach advanced mathematics at the American School in Rio.

Margaret was highly creative and remarkably multi-talented. She loved interior design and architecture and created beautiful living spaces for her beloved family. Her skill and imagination in the kitchen were unmatched, and she was the consummate gatherer of friends and family in countless joyful celebrations of life and love. She loved nothing more than bringing family together, hosting friends, throwing a party, and visiting loved ones wherever they were around the globe. Her friends seemed to be everywhere, and she made a point of staying in touch: to console, to celebrate, to solve problems, and to encourage. Margaret took great comfort in these many friendships, which gave her life so much purpose and meaning.

Margaret was passionately interested in global affairs, especially in the last years of her life, when the world seemed zealously to embrace war and violence and to turn its back on the peaceful resolution of conflict and the protection of human rights and dignity. She spoke out against war and injustice and sought always and everywhere to preach peace, love, and mutual tolerance.

Margaret is survived by her devoted husband and the love of her life, Tom Trebat; by her four children; and by her two grandchildren, Jack Ryan and Luca De Biasi. While inspired by her example and a life well lived, they are left with an enormous gap in their lives and will miss her deeply. May she rest in the peace of Christ and shower blessings upon us.

A visitation will be held at DeVol Funeral Home on Sunday, June 14th from 5-7 PM with valet parking available. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Annunciation Catholic Church in Washington, DC on Monday, June 15th at 11:00 AM with burial to follow at Oak Hill Cemetery at 1:00. Following the burial, the family welcomes you to a reception at their home. Address to be announced during the service