Margaret "Peggy" Spelman's Obituary
TO KNOW HER WAS TO LOVE HER. It is with a heavy heart we pass on the news that our mother Margaret “Peggy” Spelman passed away on May 24, 2020 in Spring Lake, Michigan.
Peggy was born in 1938 in the Panama Canal Zone, the second of three girls to Thomas and Margaret Rankin. The family relocated to New York State when she was 12 years old and later settled in Michigan, where Peggy attended high school. She went on to study nursing at the University of Michigan, and became an accomplished nurse in both Public Health and Pediatrics. After years of hard work, she completed her doctorate at Wayne State University while single-handedly raising her two small children, Mark and Tanya.
In 1969 Peggy married the love of her life, Philip Spelman, on Mackinac Island. The couple spent their honeymoon on the Big Island of Hawai’i, which eventually became their second home. Peggy brought her two kids into the marriage, and they combined with Phil’s three to become a blended family. They later had their daughter Megan and the family was complete.
Peggy and Phil lived for years in Southfield, MI, where they raised their children, traveled the world, threw big parties, and built careers. In the early 90’s they moved to Spring Lake on Michigan’s West Side before Phil’s tragic death in 1992.
Peggy was an accomplished and talented artist, an active member of art communities in both West Michigan and Hawai’i. Although her creative and professional accomplishments are impressive, she will above all be remembered for her Joie de vivre. Her ability to make friends with a stranger. Her contagious giggle. Family gatherings would often be filled with fits of laughter, until tears were streaming down faces. We will remember her willingness to drop what she was doing to connect with old friends and extended family members. Her warm and frequent hugs. Her wanderlust, and her natural beauty. Her competitive spirit and skill at racket sports- especially ping pong and pickleball. Her disgust with single use plastics. The television ticker as she “played the stock market”, and her bottom-less glass of cheap red wine. Her intellect. The stubbornness, and the debates. And THE HUGS!
Peggy encouraged her grandchildren to dance in the rain, and her kids to take that trip to a new place. She might not have baked cookies, but she inspired us to create lives filled with joy, beauty, and adventure. She was a modern maternal figure to her children, her grandchildren, her nieces and nephews, and countless friends and hangons who came for her warm heart and stayed for the laughter.
In her later years, dementia slowly chipped away at her brilliant mind, and eventually led to her decline. Peggy has now joined her parents and older sister Janice, the only person who giggled more than she did. She is also reunited with that great love of her life, Philip O. Spelman, and their son, Scott.
Her torch is carried on by children Tanya (Gary) Gonzalez of Spring Lake, MI, Sara Wykes (Dan) of Rockford Il, Mark Spelman of Bantam CT., Wendy (John) Bergman of Hollister, CA, and Megan Spelman (Vicent Poquet) of Kailua-Kona, HI, as well as her twelve grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, her sister Colleen Hall (Terry) and dear friends.
In lieu of flowers, please keep the spirit of Peggy Spelman alive by talking to a stranger, keeping an open heart, and giggling often. Donations can be made to the Margaret Spelman scholarship fund at the University of Michigan School of Nursing or the Philip and Margaret Spelman Muse Garden at the South Haven Community Foundation. Please sign the family’s online guestbook at www.sytsemafh.com.
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