Margaret McCaffery

Margaret McCaffery passed sweetly into God’s embrace on February 26, 2017. Born April 19, 1919 in Marshalltown, Iowa she spent all of her formative years in Hollywood, California during its “Golden Era”. She & a friend once saw Clark Gable & Carole Lombard driving along Sunset Blvd. and followed them back to their home where the 2 surreptitiously climbed the wall to watch the movie-stars play tennis with their friends. Other “star sightings” were common and Judy Garland was a classmate. She (then Margaret Howe) graduated from Hollywood High and followed her 2 older brothers to Stanford University, graduating with a History degree in 1941. In March 1942 she married Ben McCaffery, a West Point grad and neighborhood friend. Thus began the life of an officer’s wife ……being stationed across the globe from San Francisco, to the Panama canal-zone, England, Texas, France & near New York city before retiring to San Diego in 1966. As a homemaker most of her life, aside from a stint in war production in 1944, Margaret was a life-long “giver” to those around her. She volunteered for 40 years at the downtown San Diego Rescue Mission and was very active in ministry at Palisades Presbyterian church ….whether it be in outreach to the needy, arranging flowers for special events, working closely to integrate an immigrant Vietnamese family into American society, or a host of other worthy causes. Her faith in Jesus, her Depression-era values, and her optimism were at the core of her character that so often put others ahead of self. Family time, of course, meant everything to Margaret whether it was camping across the country, water-skiing on Mission Bay, snow-skiing at Mammoth, or playing croquet & BBQ’ing in the backyard. Unforgettable to anyone nearby was watching 75-year-old Margaret boogie-boarding at San Diego beaches with 13-year-old boys looking on incredulously. More recently, she was “tricked” by her son into taking a driving test at the DMV….passing it with flying colors at 92. As she slipped into senility & frailty in her last 3 years, she unfailingly retained her “can-do” spirit……always smiling and encouraging those around her, including her wonderful caregivers. She is survived by 2 sons (Dan & Kevin), daughter (Tana Piontek), 3 grandchildren (Amy Miller, Emery McCaffery & Lisa Agnor), and 5 great-grandchildren…being preceded in death by her husband and eldest son (Steve). A gathering to celebrate her life will be held on April 18 at Palisades Presbyterian church in San Diego) with subsequent internment of her ashes at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery next to her husband, who died in 1998.