Margot Cookson

1936 - 2026

Margot Cookson
02/18/1936 - 01/15/2026
Margot Kottinger Cookson passed away peacefully in her sleep on January 15th, at the age of 89, after a final evening surrounded by her most cherished gift, her family.
Margot, a proud San Franciscan dating back four generations, was born and raised in The City.
While attending The Katherine Delmar Burke school she met David Cookson, the love of her life, on a blind date. Thus began a 73 year long love affair.
Moving down to The Peninsula in 1958 to warmer, more family-friendly confines, the family grew and spent five years in San Mateo Park before finally settling in Hillsborough in 1963. It was here Margot's life-long pursuits and passions - travel, community service and flower arranging - took root and began to blossom.
Through her involvement with the Hillsborough Garden Club, Margot discovered a passion for flower arranging. What began as a novice testing her skills in local shows quickly revealed her creativity and willingness to push boundaries. After winning numerous local competitions, she advanced to regional and national contests, where she won with remarkable consistency. Her success led to judging appointments, and she steadily rose through the ranks until achieving the highest honor in the field: appointment as a national flower arranging judge with the Garden Club of America, a distinction held by only a few dozen individuals. Later in life, she devoted her time to mentoring and nurturing young talents, intent on spreading her love of the art.
Margot was born to travel, and she found a most willing travel companion in her husband, David. Together, they toured, explored, and photographed over 115 different countries. Visiting all eight continents, they always favored the less-traveled roads. As their own tour guides, they preferred a rented car and a roadmap to pre-arranged tours. From flyfishing on the Amazon to Argentina, to trekking in the Himalayas, they were fearless in their pursuits. With adventure as their only goal, they traveled and explored every corner of the world, making lifelong friends along the way. Margot and David sought to learn about and understand all of the people they met and cultures they encountered. No place held her heart quite like Paris, which became her second love.
Margot's most profound, often unheralded legacy was her lifelong commitment to service. She was deeply involved in her children's schools as a classroom mother, Scout leader, and ever-present chaperone. She cheered at every game, valuing sportsmanship and character above winning.
In 1972, she and David led the Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance, the school district's largest annual fundraiser, with great success. One of her quietest and most meaningful traditions was adopting a less-privileged family each Christmas, providing a tree for the home and all the presents to go underneath without fanfare. Whether leading major projects, such as a two-year archival effort for the Smithsonian Institute, or helping wherever needed - Margot was always the first to volunteer and the last to leave. Service and charity were woven into everything she did.
As a devoted and loving wife, a nurturing mother of three, and an adoring grandmother and great-grandmother of six beautiful grandkids and four precious great-grandkids, Margot's life was full of love and a life well lived. She had an amazing knack for balancing her passionate pursuits of service, travel, and flower arranging with her primary purpose of instilling the importance of family. Job well done!
Margot is preceded in death by her parents, Milton and Ella Kottinger, and survived by her loving husband of 71 years, her three children, Michael, Peter, and Ann, her six grandchildren Courtney, Caitlin, Jack, Kevin, Ryan, and Kyle, and her four great-grandchildren Liam, Emerson,Delaney, and Griffin.
Private services will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you please donate to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres to honor the memory of Margot.