Margaret Ruth Draper

1916 ~ 2011
Margaret Ruth Draper, international service worker and star of stage, radio and Madison Avenue, took her last curtain call on October 14, 2011.
Margaret was born on November 20, 1916 in Spanish Fork, Utah, the third of six children born to Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers.
From her earliest days, Margaret was captivated by the theatre. Margaret attended East High School in Salt Lake City, where she pursued her chosen passion in dramatic, dancing and musical productions. She attended business college for a year, and majored in dramatics at University of Utah, graduating in 1934; that same year, she accompanied a friend and his sister to New York City where she was determined to break into the theatre. By dint of perseverance and incessant self-promotion, she landed her first job with the Provincetown Theater, and subsequently became part of the Chekhov Theatre Players under the direction of Michael Chekhov.
During World War II, Margaret worked for two years for the Red Cross in Europe and the Middle East as a recreational director, and returned to New York to find work in radio and the Broadway stage. She played the part of Liz Dennis in "Brighter Day" until 1954, when she won the rôle of Linda Pepper in "Pepper Young's Family".
Margaret married actor Joe DeSantis in May 1949, and became the mother of her only child, Christopher, in 1951. The marriage ended in 1957. In 1959, Margaret married Nicol Bissel, an architect. She moved to Mamaroneck, New York, until her divorce in 1960, and returned to Manhattan where she made her living, in large part, doing TV and radio commercials.
In 1966 Margaret became a disc jockey for an all-woman FM radio station in New York, WNEW-FM and in 1969, she joined the United Seamen's Service. Her first assignment was as the assistant Director of the club in Cam Ranh Bay, Viet Nam. In 1970, the Viet Nam club was closed because of the war, and she was transferred to the club in Naples, Italy as director, where she served until 1972.
In 1972, she married J. Norman Messer (CDR USN) who was serving as XO of the USS Cascade (AD-16), stationed in Naples. They moved to Key West, Florida, but Margaret was once again divorced in 1973. She returned to the United Seamen's Service, working in Geneva, Switzerland and Alexandria, Egypt; one of her crowning achievements was the creation of a USS club in Alexandria, with the unfailing assistance of Egypt's Admiral Hammad and his wife. After leaving the USS, Margaret worked for three years at the National Alliance of Business as a reference specialist.
Margaret retired in 1985, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and once again in Manhattan. In later life she was married to Wesley Brown and traveled extensively with him until his death four years later.
In 2003, Margaret moved to an independent living community in Salt Lake City. In the fall of 2010, she moved to her son's home in Payson, Utah, and the following spring Margaret settled in a care facility in that same town. She passed away peacefully of old age on 14 October, 2011.
Margaret us survived by her son, Christopher C. DeSantis of Payson, Utah; two sisters, June D. Twelves of Riverside, CA and Gloria Hodgson of Portland, ME; one sister-in-law, Ruth Draper Crockatt; and numerous devoted nieces and nephews. Margaret was preceded in death by her older brother, Courtney, her younger brother Delbert, and an infant sister, Frances Mary.
It was Margaret's wish to continue her life of service by donating her corporeal remains to the University of Utah Medical Center; eventual interment will be at the donors' plot in Salt Lake City Cemetery, but a memorial stone will be placed at her family plot at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.
A memorial reception will be held at the Salt Lake Country Club, 2400 E. Country Club Drive (2380 South) On Thursday, October 20 from 3:00 to 4:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Margaret's name may be made to the Utah State Democratic Party, of which her father served as Chairman.
A more complete sketch of Margaret's life can be found at http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_draper.