Marguerite J. HARDING

HARDING, Marguerite J. Marguerite Harding passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 3, 2010 in the afternoon. She had suffered a series of strokes during the month of December, 2009 and was in the skilled nursing wing of her home at The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. She was 94. She was widowed in 1977 and lived at The Canterbury since moving to southern California in the early 1990's from Alexandria, Virginia. Remembered by her many friends for her kind heart, her volunteer spirit and her wonderful smile, as well as for her sense of humor, her artistic talents as both a painter and a writer, and for her story-telling abilities, Marguerite was active at The Canterbury, and was a volunteer in the auxiliary for the Toberman Society, RPV, helping at the Toberman Settlement House, San Pedro, CA.
In Alexandria, Virginia where she lived for 30 years, she was an active volunteer at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church, the Hermitage Methodist Home, and was president of the River Farm Garden Club. Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1915, she grew up on a working farm in Hampton, NH. After graduation from high school in Exeter, New Hampshire she was the assistant Alumni Secretary for Phillips Exeter Academy for five years. She met her husband George who was a student at the University of New Hampshire at a Hampton Beach Casino dance party, and they married in 1935. George's work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took them to many locations in the U.S., and finally back to Boston, Mass. They lived in Reading, Mass. for 16 years. There Marguerite was a Girl Scout leader for many years, and was active in Old South Methodist Church activities. In 1963 George was transferred to the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Army Engineer Corps, and they made their home in Alexandria, VA. She was preceded in death by her brother, Leslie O'Brien, her sister, Bernice Chase, and her mother and father, Ada and Mitchell O'Brien. She is survived by her daughter, Susan Harding McBride of West Hills, CA, her granddaughter and husband, Kat and Garett Martell of Burbank, CA, great-grandson, Colin Martell, and by many nieces and nephews. Gates, Kingsley & Gates Praiswater Mortuary (818) 348-3354