Margaret Thompson Anderson

Margaret Thompson Anderson loved life and lived it well. Fiercely devoted to her children and grandchildren, she passed peacefully in her Raleigh, North Carolina home on April 20, 2024. She asked only that everyone remember she was strong throughout her 13-month bout with cancer.

Margaret Grace Thompson (She liked to be called "Maggie") was born on June 12, 1950 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was the daughter and eldest child of John Nicholas Thompson (1923-1998) and Margaret Graham Thompson (1923-1983). Margaret Grace (only her mother, grandmother and husband called her by that name) and her younger brother, John Nicholas Thompson Jr. (1954 - 2020), grew up on Greensboro's Aberdeen Terrace. Her vivacious grandmother, Grace Martin Graham (1900-1995), lived across the street. Mrs. Graham was her granddaughter's role model and mentor. Like her grandmother, Margaret Grace was a confident world traveler who was kind, compassionate, funny ... and competitive. Proud of her agrarian roots and tomboy reputation, Margaret Grace was good with a bow, a rifle and a golf club.

Margaret's real passions were threefold: her grandchildren, fishing and baking. Some say she was born with a fishing rod in her hand. Her pound cakes and lemon pies were legendary. All of her fantasy football teams were winners and she grew prize-winning dahlias in her yard.



Margaret was, undeniably, a high-performing Mom. She was also a skilled professional and polished public speaker who, on a podium, was fearless. Margaret graduated from Greensboro's Grimsley High School in 1968. She graduated from North Carolina State University in 1972. She was fond of saying her life began when she arrived on the NC State campus. There, as a Sigma Kappa sorority member, Margaret made a host of friendships that lasted more than 50 years.

Margaret Grace met her future husband, John R. Anderson Jr., in Greensboro on July 21,1971 when they spoke for five minutes about farm pond fishing. Three weeks later, purely by coincidence, the two NC State seniors found themselves sitting beside one another in a Cell Biology class. Anderson, the introvert, fell hard for the freckle-faced, extroverted redhead. Describing their Fall 1971 romance, he once wrote: "She was the perfect woman: beautiful, smart, easy to talk to and she cleaned her own fish." Margaret's 1971 date book indicates that 92 days after the start of NC State's fall semester, she and John "talked about getting married." The wedding was in Greensboro's First Baptist Church on August 10, 1974.

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Armed with a B.S. degree in Zoology, Margaret Anderson undertook a 50+ year career that included jobs at Research Triangle Institute (teratology), Duke University (animal behavior), Illinois Natural History Survey (analytical chemistry and environmental entomology), NC State University (virology) and Becton-Dickinson (drug development). Along the way, she taught physical science, chemistry and biology at Lawrence Academy in Merry Hill, North Carolina, worked in retail and monitored clinical trials for several companies. A consummate "team player," known for her integrity, interpersonal skills and strong scientific background, "Maggie" Anderson stood out in the clinical trial space. For ten years, she managed clinical trials at Glaxo-SmithKline before moving to Chimerix, a pharma startup. At Chimerix, Maggie directed challenging Phase I clinical trials that evaluated antiviral and transplant-enabling drugs. Her career culminated in the formation of her own consulting company, Soundview Solutions; it managed both domestic and international Phase I trials.

In Margaret Anderson's home, the Christmas season was special. It was filled with anticipation and excitement. The smell of freshly-baked cookies, cakes and pies was pervasive. Margaret took her grandkids to Target, gave them a budget and had them purchase gifts for less fortunate children. Tree selection was meticulous because Margaret's Christmas trees were works of art; they became a neighborhood "tourist attraction." She spent countless hours prepping her trees to host a collection of blown-glass, Eastern European Christmas ornaments that was decades-in-the-making. With the same passion, precision and tenacity that characterized her professional work, Margaret pursued Christmas ornaments that meant things to her. Her people skills were such that, on an ornament pilgrimage to Poland, Margaret, without an appointment or introduction, wrangled lunch with Patricia Breen, a reclusive superstar in the Christmas ornament world. A joke in the Anderson home is that our Christmas trees are taken down the same day we file our taxes.

Maggie Anderson is survived by: Dr. John R. Anderson Jr., her husband of 49 years; her son, Matthew Graham Anderson of Raleigh, North Carolina and his wife Carolyn Wirth Anderson; her daughter, Dr. Megan Anderson Musisca of Evans, Georgia and her husband, Dr. Nicholas Joseph Musisca and; most importantly, her five beloved grandchildren, "her gingers," Charlotte Grace Anderson (13), Graham James Anderson (10) and Oliver Wirth Anderson (7) along with "her girls," i.e. the tag team of Genevieve Rose Musisca (8) and Amelia Grace Musisca (5).

Margaret's family wishes to sincerely thank the doctors and staff at the Duke University Cancer Center and Duke University Hospital. As a medical person herself, Magaret understood the strong team that Duke assembled to help her. With faith and complete trust, she put her treatment into the hands of Dr. Angeles Alvarez Secord, Dr. Juno P. Chino, Dr. Mark Chen and Oncological Nurse Practitioner, Georgia Smith. The family is indebted to them for their skilled and compassionate efforts to treat Margaret's illness. Also, we would be remiss not to mention the loving efforts and sacrifices that close friends, neighbors, and the doctors in our own family made to ensure that Margaret was comfortable at the end of her beautiful life.

Margaret was laid to rest, alongside her Mother, Grandmother, Brother and Grandfather, under a large oak tree on a peaceful hilltop in Greensboro's Forest Lawn Cemetery (Section 6). On Friday afternoon, August 9, 2024 a celebration of her life will be held at the NC State University Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.