Peggy Boerger

Our beloved mother, Peggy Boerger died on August 26, 2025, at the age of 90, following a long and happy life. She was born on April 7, 1933, to Harry and Kathryn Keay, in Hammond, Indiana. Family legend has it that she was to be called Peggy, but the Mother Superior Nurse was not having a baby christened such a casual name on her watch. Our grandmother was ready to leave the hospital with Baby Girl Keay, but grandpa convinced her to put "Margaret Ann", a tribute to their mothers Margarite Moran Keay and Anna O'Rourke Moore, on the birth certificate, with the promise she would always be their Peggy.
Her childhood was spent in Calumet City, IL, during the second half of the Great Depression, followed by World War II. She and her older brother Harry Jr told stories of scrap collecting and victory gardens, listening to radio programs in the evening, and adventures with their many extended Keay and Moore family members.
Peggy attended St. Victor's Catholic School in her neighborhood where she participated in cheerleading, baton twirling, and was crowned the Queen of the May during her 8th grade year. High school was attended at Bishop Noll in Indiana, graduating in 1953. She planned to be a Wolverine at University of Michigan, but at the last moment, her dad did not want to be parted from his little girl. Instead, she enrolled in Loyola University, taking the train into Chicago every day.
That decision was possibly the most consequential of her life. Within a few weeks of the start of the school year, she was invited to use her baton twirling skills to lead Loyola's ROTC Drill Team on Chicago's Columbus Day Parade. That day, she met an entire troop of handsome young men, but only one (that we know of) went home that night and told his mother he had met the girl he was going to marry. That man, Richard Boerger, was successful, and Richard and Peggy were married on September 17, 1955, at St. Victor's. They settled in Chicago and started a family, beginning with daughter Barbara Anne and son Richard Edward Jr. A move to Park Forest in the suburbs introduced son Thomas Christopher. Then daughter Judith Keay and son David Paul came home to the first purchased home in nearby Matteson. Peggy worked for the John Hancock Company prior to and during her first pregnancy, and in a different era might have become an executive, but she took motherhood seriously. She always made time for volunteer efforts, like the St. James Hospital Ladies Auxiliary, which gave her the opportunity to dress up in fashionable suits and dresses for luncheons and galas.
As both Peggy and Richard were tired of mid-western winters, California beckoned and they answered, moving to Simi Valley in 1967. Peggy had picked out a lovely two-story home with Spanish style arches from a real estate ad. But she was not prepared for the stark beige stucco edifice plopped on a bed of dried, caked mud, and after three days on a train with five children and her mother, she sobbed. We spent a few days at the Burbank Holiday Inn, waiting for our furniture to arrive, and emotions to subside. Upon settling in, Peggy found her groove volunteering and leading the Sycamore Elementary School PTA for many years, and helping us be successful in our sports, music lessons, and other creative endeavors. She also stepped out of her status as a primarily stay-at-home-mom and began working at Sequoia Junior High in the library and lunchroom.
In 1976, Richard was transferred to San Francisco, and the family relocated to Livermore. Only three children remained at home, so Peggy was able to take on full-time employment, starting first in the office of Dr. Joseph Mauritzen. She added part-time work at the Livermore Library, which eventually became full-time until her retirement at the age of 70. Peggy's one regret was not having completed a
college degree, and she was proud of having worked for so many years in a position that usually required one but was waived due to her experience and competence.
Peggy and Richard, with their children all grown or nearly so, started going on adventures and having good times. They became annual visitors to Hawaii, and frequented the California coast and Reno, Nevada. They were happy to travel up and down the state or across country to attend the events of their children and grandchildren. Despite Peggy's first battle with breast cancer, they were able to go to Italy for a tour of cathedrals with a group from St. Michael's. Peggy conquered breast cancer twice in her lifetime and continued to contribute her time and energy to St. Michael's for many years as the coordinator of Eucharistic Ministry.
Peggy was preceded in death by her husband, Richard, in 2014. Additionally, her son Richard Jr in 2025, brother Harry Jr, granddaughter Emily, daughter-in-law Julie, son-in-law Steve, and her parents, as well as extended family including her in-laws, Cletus and Helen Boerger, sisters-in-law, Dorothy Boerger and Carol, her husband Paul, and their son, nephew Timothy Marti.
Peggy is survived by her children Barbara, Tom, Judi (Oscar), and David (Peggy). She will be missed by her grandchildren James Parmenter (Katy), Daniel and Michael Hackett, Samantha Gaytan (Samuel), Tiffany Lomeli (Ben), Amanda Memon (Ishaq), Richard III "Sharkey", Sara Marquez Bradley (Michael), and Melinda, James, and Isabelle Bridgford, as well as niece and nephews Susie Ries, Paul, Peter, and Tony Marti, and their spouses and children. She also leaves behind great-grandchildren, Aurora, Gemma, and Julian Hackett, Harper Lomeli, Emmie Chavira, Ehsan Memon, as well as many dear friends from the St. Michael's Parish community.
There will be a vigil at St. Michael's Catholic Church on Thursday, September 25th from 6:00 to 8:30 PM, with rosary at 7:10 PM. The funeral mass, also at St. Michael's, will be at 11:00 AM on Friday, September 26th, followed by burial at 12:30 PM at the St. Michael's Cemetery on East Avenue in Livermore. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Peggy's memory to a local charity whose works directly benefit a local community such as a food bank or shelter facility.
The family would like to thank the staff at Rosewood Gardens in Livermore for the warm and loving care they provided our mom in her last years. Dementia is a cruel disease, but our mom remained pleasant and told us many tales of the interior life she was leading. May her memory forever be a blessing.