Margaret Anderson

Margaret Lee Anderson PORTSMOUTH - Margaret Lee Walke Anderson, 85, loving mother, beloved grandmother and widow of Dr. Gerald Benton Anderson, died Nov. 21, 2010, after a brief illness. Margaret Lee, a native of Portsmouth and lifelong resident of the city, was the daughter of Roland James Walke and Ellen Veronica Keil Walke. She was a lifelong member of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Portsmouth. She is survived by three children and their families: Bradford Lee Anderson of Smithfield, his wife Debra Sue Messenger Anderson and their son Benton Reed Anderson; Brice Tilden Anderson of Mechanicsville, his wife Cynthia Cary Anderson and their son James Benton Anderson; and Margaret Ellen Anderson Downs of Portsmouth, her husband Douglas Warren Downs and their children, Jennifer Lee Downs, Bradford Warren Downs and Anne Benton Downs. Margaret Lee loved Williamsburg, where she and Gerry courted on Sunday afternoons in the early 1950s. They were married April 11, 1953, at St. Paul's. She was proud of her Irish heritage, her Catholic faith, and of her five perfect grandchildren, whose names for her included Oma, Puttit and Grandma. Margaret Lee retired in 1988 from Portsmouth Psychiatric Center, where she worked 13 years as a ward clerk. She also worked for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. in the 1940s and 1950s and taught preschool at St. Christophers Episcopal Church in Portsmouth in the 1970s. She was a 1942 graduate of St. Joseph's Academy in Portsmouth and attended Mary Washington College and The College of William and Mary. Margaret Lee was a longtime volunteer with the Portsmouth chapter of the March of Dimes in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with Louise Hall, Harriet Hart and "Tiny" Burke, she was one of the "founding mothers" of the March of Dimes' day camp for special-needs children. The camp operated for two weeks each summer from 1967 to 1976 under the shady trees of Portsmouth City Park. She also helped to coordinate the March of Dimes' annual Mothers March fundraising drive in the 1960s and helped to coordinate the organization's annual telethons on WAVY-TV in the 1960s and 1970s. Margaret Lee served on the Portsmouth Catholic School Board in the 1970s, when her children attended Portsmouth Catholic High School. A Rosary service for Margaret Lee will be held today, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. at Foster Funeral Home, 1926 High St. in Portsmouth. Immediately after the Rosary, the family will receive friends at the funeral home. A Mass of the Resurrection will be said Wednesday, Nov. 24, at 11 a.m. at St. Paul's, 463 Washington St. in Portsmouth. Burial will follow in Olive Branch Cemetery in Portsmouth. The family wishes to offer special thanks to the second-floor and fourth-floor nursing staffs at Maryview Hospital for making our mother's final days safe, comfortable and dignified. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children, 6171 Kempsville Circle, Norfolk, VA 23502.