Margaret Schieffelin Pardee Bates

Margaret Schieffelin Pardee Bates
1918 ~ 2010

Carmel - Philanthropist, conservationist and champion of education, Margaret (Peggy) Bates died peacefully in her Jacks Peak home with family at her side early on Tuesday morning, September 14, 2010. She was 92. Born in New York City on July 22, 1918, her parents were Margaret Trevor Pardee and Irving H. Pardee, M.D. Her maternal grandparents were Margaret Schieffelin Trevor and Henry Graff Trevor, and her paternal grandparents were Ensign Bennett Pardee, M.D. and Clara Burton Pardee. Peggy was a direct descendent through her mother of William Brewster who emigrated from England to America on the Mayflower in 1620 and was the religious leader of the Plymouth Colony. (10th descent)
Peggy attended Chapin School in New York City during her primary and secondary grades, received her B.A. from Barnard College (1940), her M.A. in American history from Washington University in 1941 and was a PhD. Candidate in American history at Columbia University. Her advisor was the eminent historian Henry Steele Commager.
Her studies were interrupted by World War II. During the war she was an administrative assistant for National Defense Training at Barnard College and then an elementary and high school teacher at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Peggy and her husband, Talcott Bates, M.D., whom she married in 1938, moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1946. As a relative newcomer and encouraged by State Senator Fred Farr she become involved with education and at the age of 32 won seats on both the Monterey Elementary School and High School District boards and was also elected to the first junior college district board. She served on all of these boards from 1951-1957 and as chair from 1953 to 1957.
Peggy was instrumental in the founding of Monterey Peninsula College, initially through the creation of 13th and 14th grades attached to the high school and then by working with Allen Griffin, owner of the Monterey Peninsula Herald, to convince S.F.B. Morse to provide the property on Fremont Street in Monterey for the campus. In 1960, Governor Pat Brown appointed her to the State Board of Education and Trustee of the California State Universities and Colleges serving from 1960-1969. She was the first representative of the "junior colleges" on the State Coordinating Council for Higher Education. Inspired possibly by her own parents' resistance when she chose to attend college, Peggy took particular interest in expanding educational opportunities for young women, encouraging them to prepare for and pursue higher education and providing advice and support for their professional advancement.
The list of boards and commissions on which Peggy served is too long to present, but on the Peninsula she served on the Board of Trustees of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, on the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of York School, on the CSUMB President's Council, and was an active supporter of the Monterey Peninsula College Foundation and a member of its advisory council. Nationally she was a Trustee of Barnard College, a director of the Council for Basic Education and a member of the Senior Accrediting Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
In the more than 60 years she lived on the Monterey Peninsula, Peggy Bates came to personify the role of citizen-educator.
Peggy was also a conservationist particularly when it came to the Monterey Peninsula and its pine forests. In 1961 she and her husband Talcott purchased Jacks Peak and after years of effort and the assistance of The Nature Conservancy this property became the core of Jacks Peak County Park which over the years has grown to almost 1000 acres. As recently as two years ago Peggy visited every county supervisor, wrote letters and attended supervisors' meetings arguing for pine forest protections in developments adjacent to Jacks Peak County Park.
Peggy shared Talcott's interest in child welfare and child abuse prevention. She continued after his death to support the work he had begun and contributed generously to facilities and programs benefiting children at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Natividad Medical Center, Monterey Sports Center, the Family Resource Center and the Child Abuse Prevention Council.
During her active life Peggy received many awards and honors including Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women: Outstanding Ten Women for 1998, California State University Monterey Bay Distinguished Fellow Award, Monterey Peninsula College Foundation: Citizen of the Year 2008, National Philanthropy Day: Outstanding Philanthropist 2009. Her papers from the 1960's onward can be found at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Throughout her life travel was a passion. She, her husband and four sons spent a year during 1957-58 traveling throughout Europe, the first of many trips to that continent. In 1972, again with the entire family, she traveled for four months via GMC suburban through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Try to make that trip today! She and Talcott were among the early travelers to China after diplomatic relations were re-established and they made several trips to that country. Peggy continued to travel in Asia, Africa and Europe until last year when she was no longer able to do so. Her last trip was to New York City and Connecticut in April 2010.
Peggy will be remembered as a gentle, modest and gracious individual who gave time and treasure to the causes she loved and attention and love to her family. She neither said nor thought ill of anyone, and she didn't have a selfish bone in her body. Above all Peggy was guided though life by a profound sense of noblesse oblige. A great woman: We will not soon forget her.
She was a founding member of the Casa Abrego Club in Monterey, a member of the Junior League of the City of New York and of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. She particularly enjoyed her poetry group and her play reading group and was active in both until the very end.
Peggy is survived by her four sons, David Talcott, Seth Pardee and Charles Carroll, all of Carmel, and Anthony Stewart of Grand Junction, CO; seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Talcott, who died in 1985 and by her daughter, Margaret Schieffelin who died in infancy.
Her family extend special thanks to Richard King, M.D., Michael Galloway, M.D., Heartland Hospice and the devoted care givers who helped her during her final days.
A remembrance and celebration will be held at the York School chapel on Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 3:30 PM.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the York School, 9501 York Rd., Monterey, CA 93940; 831-422-4299; www.york.org.