Margaret Nielsen Lyons

Margaret Nielsen Lyons died peacefully on Saturday, July 1, 2023 after a brief period of declining health. She was 98 years old. Beloved wife of the late Richard C. Lyons, Jr. Loving mother of Karen Lyons (Steve) Goodman, Mary (late Mark) Stein, Melissa Lyons Eyeington, Richard N. (Sheila) Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Greco and the late Catherine A. Lyons. Cherished grandmother of 14 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Devoted sister of Patricia Fornes, and the late Alice Anderson. Friends may call Friday, July 7, 2023 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Perna, Dengler, Roberts Funeral Home, 1671 Maple Rd, Williamsville, New York 14221. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Saturday, July 8, 2023, 9:00 AM at St. Benedict RC Church, 1317 Eggert Rd., Eggertsville, New York. Peggy, the second of three sisters, was born on May 27, 1925 to Herbert S. and Catherine Nielsen in Buffalo and was a lifelong Snyder resident. She was a graduate of the Amherst High School Class of 1943, where she was on the synchronized swim team. She attended Denison University. During WWII, she returned to Snyder and worked as a dental assistant. She married Richard C. Lyons, Jr. and together they raised six children. They were active members of St. Benedict Church, where Peggy was a Eucharistic minister, a member of the Rosary Altar Society, and a member of both the Ladies Golf and Bowling Leagues. She and her husband co-chaired many events over the years, such as the Canisius College Regents Ball and Canisius High School Gambit. Childhood summers at her family home in Angola instilled in her a lifelong love of water and swimming. Peggy never met an ocean, lake, river, or pool she didn’t eagerly dive into. Everyone was welcome at the Lyons family pool for weekly Sunday gatherings. She was a 50+ year member of the Park Country Club, where she was an avid golfer and swimmer. She was also a competitive card player in her long-standing Bridge Club. Another highlight of Peggy’s life was her service to others. For more than 20 years, until the age of 93, she worked every Tuesday at the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen in Buffalo. She loved everyone she worked with and served there. She worked with special needs children at The Children’s League in Springville, NY. She was also a dedicated volunteer at the Amherst chapter of Meals on Wheels. Peggy was known for her sunny disposition and being a friend to all. She will be dearly missed. Flowers gratefully declined. Donations in her memory may be made to St. Benedict School, for the Kara Stein Scholarship Fund. 3980 Main Street, Eggertsville, NY 14226. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.DenglerRobertsPernaFuneral.com for the Lyons family.

Margaret N. “Peggy” Lyons, active in church and charitable organizations, died July 1 in Tennyson Court, Amherst, where she had been a resident for three years, after a period of declining health. She was 98.

The second of three girls, Margaret Shirley Nielsen was the daughter of Herbert Nielsen, an Oldsmobile dealer with a showroom at Bailey Avenue and Genesee Street who also was a yachtsman.

A lifelong Snyder resident, she developed a love of the water at the family’s summer home in Angola. She was a member of the synchronized swimming team at Amherst High School, where she was senior class secretary.

After she graduated in 1943, she attended Denison University in Ohio for a year, then returned home to work as a dental assistant.

She married Richard C. Lyons Jr. in St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Eggertsville on Sept. 10, 1949. He went on to become treasurer and vice president of the Buffalo Courier-Express and founded the Kid’s Day edition to benefit what was then Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

The mother of six children, Mrs. Lyons was active in St. Benedict’s Church, where she was a eucharistic minister, a member of the Altar and Rosary Society and a member of the ladies golf and bowling leagues.

She and her husband co-chaired many events, including the Canisius College Regents Ball and the annual Canisius High School Gambit fundraiser.

For more than 20 years, until she was 93, she worked every Tuesday at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen in Buffalo. She also worked with special needs children at the Children’s League in Springville and was a dedicated volunteer with Meals on Wheels in Amherst.

She was a member for more than 50 years at the Park Country Club, where she was an avid golfer and swimmer. She also was a competitive bridge player.

Survivors include four daughters, Karen Lyons Goodman, Mary Lyons Stein, Melissa Lyons Eyeington and Jennifer Lyons Greco; a son, Richard N.; a sister, Patricia Fornes; 14 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Her husband died in 1991. Another daughter, Catherine Lyons, nationally prominent as an oncology nursing administrator, died in 2021.

A Mass of Christian Burial was offered July 8 in St. Benedict’s Church.