Margaret E Wilkins

Margaret E. Wilkins, 86, of Williamsburg, VA, passed away on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, at

Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, VA.

Margaret was born in Williamsburg on July 8, 1939, to Robert Dudley Wilkins, Jr., a well-known

employee of Colonial Williamsburg for over thirty-five years, and Frances Lee Wilkins. She

resided nearly her entire life on the family property on South Boundary Street in Williamsburg.

She was an only child who never married. She is survived by two daughters of her first cousin,

Carolyn Lee Carter Bringhurst (d. 2018), Julia Lee Bringhurst and Amanda Carter Bringhurst.

Margaret attended Bruton Parish Episcopal Church with her parents for much of her life. She

was educated through tenth grade at Matthew Waley School, and graduated after two years from

the new James Blair High School in 1957. She was active in chorus and the civics, drama, and

reading clubs. Thereafter, she graduated with a degree in French from the College of William &

Mary in 1961, where she was a member of Kappa Delta sorority. Upon graduation, she taught

high school for one half year in Ashland and then worked for one half year at the Virginia Life

Insurance Company in Richmond. Upon returning home, she taught at Lee Hall Elementary

School for twenty-five years until retiring in 1988.

Margaret was an avid swimmer for most of her life, even swimming more than 100 miles in one

summer as part of a Red Cross fitness program at Kingspoint Club Pool. She was an insatiable

reader, occasionally winning library awards for the number of books read in a season. She loved

visiting the Williamsburg library. She walked several times daily until she suffered an ankle injury

in November 2018. After rehabilitating at Patriot's Colony, she surprised all who knew her by

returning home in October 2020. Within hours, she was driving again in her meticulously kept

car, reclaiming her independence and mobility over her final years.

Margaret became a member of the Legacy Society for the Williamsburg Community Foundation

in 2015. She was beloved by many in Williamsburg, particularly her Boundary Street neighbors.

An interment of ashes in the family burial plot at Cedar Grove Cemetery will be done in a private

ceremony officiated by Rev. Jeffrey S. Buffkin. A gathering of remembrance to which all are

invited will follow at 3:00 p.m., Friday, September 26 at the Baptist Student Center, located at 244

S. Boundary Street, Williamsburg, VA. Parking at the Center is limited and reserved for the

elderly. Additional parking is available at the P6 parking lot on Francis Street.

Bucktrout Funeral Home is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy

may be made to the Williamsburg Community Foundation.