Margaret "Peggy" Meyette

1930 - 2024

Margaret "Peggy" Meyette

Cornish, NH - Margaret "Peggy" Meyette, age 93, passed away early Sunday morning, March 17, 2024 at Elm Wood Center in Claremont after a period of declining health.

Peggy was born in Claremont on June 11, 1930, daughter of Willard Earl and Dorothy Fletcher (Lear) Eastman.

She is survived by her son Brian and wife Karla of Cornish, daughter Brenda and husband Ken Lewis of Natick, MA, granddaughter Allison (Schuster) and her husband Spencer Hitchner and their son Arthur and daughter Willa of Arlington, MA, and granddaughter Julia Schuster and her husband Nick Marinelli of Barre, VT.

She was predeceased by her brother Francis Willard, USMC, in 1943, her son Dana Lear in 1976, her sister Barbara Dorothy (Eastman) Rawson in 2002, and her husband of 67 years, Joseph, in 2017.

She attended elementary school in Cornish at the one-room schoolhouse across the road from her current residence at the Lear homestead at the end of Jackson Road. She graduated from Stevens High School in Claremont in 1949.

After high school, she met Joe, where he worked with his father and her at the Shipman estate in Plainfield, and they were married September 3, 1950 in Cornish. Joe and Peggy raised their children in Plainfield, then moved to the family's Lear homestead in Cornish upon the death of her aunt Evelyn Lear in 1983.

She devoted her life to her family and to her Plainfield and Cornish communities. She was a 4-H leader during the 1960s. She was an ardent supporter of nature, and was a longtime member and President of the Meriden Bird Club. She spent about 25 years as a volunteer at the Plainfield Elementary School, teaching generations of kids about nature. She later worked as a volunteer reading tutor for the Claremont School System.

She was affectionately known as "The Bird Lady" by her students. Her knowledge of birds was well-known in the area, and people often called upon her with questions and stories about birds. She received The Goodhue-Elkins Award from New Hampshire Audubon in 2018 for her contributions to ornithology.

She loved working in her vegetable and flower gardens. She was very active in many crafts and in MeriCrafters. She had a ceramics shop in her basement, and taught ceramics classes in Plainfield, and later Cornish, for many years. She was also an accomplished quilter, and had a quilting studio in Cornish.

She and Joe were long-time members of the Plainfield Community Baptist Church, attending until she was no longer able to hear the services.

The family wishes to express its appreciation for the efforts and loving care given to her by her caretakers, Tina Downing of Cornish and Kelly Bergeron of Norwich, as well as her neighbor, MaryLiz Lynch, and the staff at Elm Wood Center. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Peggy's name to Plainfield Community Baptist Church or the Cornish Rescue Squad.

Services will be held Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 3:00 PM at the Plainfield Community Baptist Church. Knight Funeral Home of Windsor, VT has been entrusted with service arrangements and online condolences are appreciated at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.