Dr. Margot Loungway Drekmeier

Dr. Margot Loungway Drekmeier Died peacefully on February 26, 2008, just short of her 76th birthday and her golden wedding anniversary. Born in Boston on March 14, 1932, she was proud of the strain of Iroquois blood inherited from her father. After completing Girls Latin School, she attended Oberlin College where she majored in history and served as president of the student council in her senior year. She earned her doctorate from Harvard in the field of European history, the result of a year's study at the Bibliotheque Nationale on a Fulbright grant. In 1958 she married Charles Drekmeier, a fellow graduate student, and the two moved to Palo Alto to teach at Stanford. Margot taught in the Western Civilization program and in the Department of History. The focus of her scholarly interests was cultural and intellectual history of Western Europe. The year after her arrival at Stanford she, her husband, and two other faculty members started an honors program called Social Thought and Institutions, which continued for 23 years. She also participated in a number of Peace Studies courses. Margot is survived by her husband, Charles; brothers, John Loungway (Lorna), Duncan Loungway (Nancy); children, Nadja May (Harry), Peter Drekmeier (Amy Adams), Kai Drekmeier (Sarah) and their children Emily and Beatrice, as well as many nieces and nephews. Margot will be remembered as a loving mother and wife and for her deep commitment to human rights, social justice and environmental protection. A memorial is planned for April 5, 3pm at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto.