MARGARITA "PEG" OLIVER

1920 - 2011

Margarita "Peg" Oliver, 90, of Pharr, Texas, passed away May 18 at her residence. Peg was born May 30, 1920.
Mrs. Oliver grew up in Winnetka, Ill., and graduated from Lawrence College (now University) in 1942. She lived with her family in Appleton, Wis., until moving to Texas in 1984, after her husband passed away. In Wisconsin, she was a member of the Memorial Presbyterian Church, was active in Parent-Teacher Association and taught English as a second language to the Hmong students and parents. She lived in the Rio Grande Valley for 27 years, and was active in the Unitarian Universalist church. She formed the Coalition of Literacy Services to ensure GED classes were available in all areas of the valley and she actively taught classes throughout the valley until she was 85 years old. If a problem in education needed to be addressed, she sent letters to the paper and USA Today, and sent emails to anyone who might be able to make a difference. She could not leave any possibility for better education unchecked, and was a champion for anyone who needed an education. Peg Oliver received the George B. Walter Service to Society Award from Lawrence University in recognition of the differences she made. She leaves behind a legacy of people whose lives she has influenced by giving them hope of a better future – believing in them when no one else did.
She is survived by her eight children, Bonnie (David) Nabbefeld, Scott (Barbara) Oliver, Nancy (David) Leifheit, Bruce (Shannon) Oliver, Steventon (Sage) Oliver, Andrew (Cheryl) Oliver, Pamela (Marcos) Munoz and Laurie (Enrique) Ruiz; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She was a loving wife and mother.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alfred Oliver; her parents, Ernest and Genevieve Thompson; her sisters, Winifred McCandlish and Vivette Soderlund; and brothers, Ernest Thompson Jr. and Wickham Thompson.
A memorial fund is being established.
Memorial services were held in McAllen, Texas, as well as at the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Appleton, in June.