Margaret Ong

1943 - 2021

Margaret Ong
August 3, 1943 - March 29, 2021
Woodland, California - Margaret passed away at home, surrounded by friends and family, of lung and GIST cancer. She also had end-stage kidney disease from an inherited gene mutation that causes Alport Syndrome. She is survived by her husband of 25 years, Murray Levison; her son Drew (Lisa) Teufel and adored grandchildren Leland and Emmy; stepsons Kyle (Charlotte) and Austin Spiller; sister Mabel (Tommy) Ligh; sisters-in-law Mary, Mei, and Ellen Ong; numerous nieces and nephews; and a huge team of family and friends in the US and Mexico.
Born in San Francisco, Margaret also lived in Oakland, Tucson, Cincinnati, China Lake, and Berkeley. She moved to Davis in 1979 and to Woodland in 2016. Margaret met Murray in 1992 while taking personal development workshops in San José, where he lived. Although she never planned to marry again, she knew right away that Murray would be her life partner. Murray changed jobs and moved to Davis in 1994, and they were married on a smooth jazz cruise in 1996.
After graduating from St. Francis nursing school in San Francisco in 1965, Margaret started a wonderful 45-year nursing career. She used her nursing skills in the Peace Corps in Bolivia (1966-1968), then followed her then-husband Bill Teufel to several assignments. After striking out on her own in Davis with Drew, she worked in Sacramento for several hospitals before finding her niche in the Emergency Department at Kaiser Morse Avenue, from which she retired after 25 years (1983-2008). For several years she was the only nationally Certified Emergency Nurse in the Morse Avenue and Roseville EDs. She was the social director of the Morse ED retirees group.
Not wanting to work full-time in the busy Kaiser ED, she was hired to lobby the State EMS Agency to amend the regulations to allow automatic defibrillators to be used outside a hospital setting. Having accomplished that, she started selling portable defibrillators. After her first year of sales she was recognized for selling the most units nationally for her company. Other salesmen were certain there was a man helping her, not believing that a woman could be so successful.
One day while making a sales call to Sacramento Fire Chief Gary Costamagna, he asked what else he could do to improve pre-hospital medical care for the city's residents. Margaret encouraged him to begin a paramedic program that would provide a continuity of quality care from the time 911 was called to the time the patient arrived at the hospital. Given only 6 months to build the program, Margaret worked with a dedicated team to write job descriptions, develop qualifying tests, write care standards and medical protocols, and establish relationships with nine hospitals. For 20 years she worked as a consultant, and briefly as an employee (2005-2010), for the City of Sacramento. As former Fire Chief Ray Jones wrote, "I counted on you to jumpstart projects that were difficult, time-consuming and sometimes even treacherous. While the rest of the team was complaining, you were in my office making plans."
Never the stereotypic quiet Asian woman, Margaret often was described as a force of nature and fearless. She always was up for an adventure with those close to her. Whether it was chartering a plane to take friends to an LA Rams game; taking family and friends to Hawaii, Paris, and China; hosting numerous Chinese New Year's banquets; or trying out new restaurants with her exercise buddies, she simply enjoyed being with people and would always fight for the check to pay the bill.
Margaret's greatest achievement was being a compassionate, persistent, and generous family member, friend, and community member. She took the time to learn the names of those who waited on her wherever she did business, and they often became new friends. She supported numerous charities, volunteered at clinics, cooked for a homeless shelter, was an enthusiastic supporter of school and team fundraisers, bought shoes for employees in Mexico, remembered the details of her family's and friends' lives and celebrated their life events, worked to influence elections, and spoke up about injustice. Even in her final days she was delivering presents to people and making a list of projects for Murray to complete.
Her 70th birthday party served as her celebration of life and there will be no additional services. After cremation, some of her ashes will be placed at the winter refuge in Cabo San Lucas she loved and so enjoyed with Murray.
Special thanks go to Jan Ebert, who donated a kidney to Margaret, and to Dr. Satpreet Sekhon and Dr. Gwen Ho, who took a strong personal interest in providing excellent care to Margaret over many years.
In lieu of flowers, consider a donation in memory of Margaret to the Kaiser Sacramento Nephrology or Oncology Departments at https://is.gd/5B0bis, or to the Alport Syndrome Foundation at alportsyndrome.kindful.com. Alternately, join us in donating to a fund supporting Kyle's COVID medical challenges at www.gofundme.com/help-for-kyles-medical-bills. Fond remembrances may be sent to PO Box 128, Davis 95617. As Margaret often said, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and live life to the fullest."