Peggy GAZETTE

1923 - 2024

We all called her Peggy. But her given name was Cleo Peggy Gazette. She was 100 when she left us on January 23, 2024 - heading out with wings flapping on her "ever upward" journey. This was the mantra she chose for living her life.

Two weeks after her birth on November 11,1923, in Henderson, MT - where the delivery doctor arrived by rail hand car - Peggy was on her way to Spokane with her parents Andy and Lillian and two older sisters, Beverly and Betty. Her love of travel - peregrinations as she often called them - started very young it seems. She spent a lifetime, traveling the world and viewing its component pieces with eyes and a heart wide hug.

She was a 1942 graduate of North Central High School. While at North Central her leadership skills were developing early. She was Assistant to Elsa Pinkham, the Head of the Girls PE Department. Other roles included being the first female editor of the sports page for the high school newspaper, first female editor of the newspaper, and president of the Girls League. She was recognized in 1998 as a North Central Distinguished Alumnus.

Her adventuresome spirit was fueled by summers spent at Campfire Camp Sweyolakan at Lake Coeur d'Alene.

After having started her collegiate studies at WSU, she answered the call to serve her country and help preserve its democracy. On her 20th birthday she joined the Navy. Along with her sisters Betty (Navy) and Phyllis (Marines) these three Gazettes displayed both their sense of responsibility and their curious spirits.

Thanks to the G.I. bill Peggy earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology and her Masters in Education at Whitworth. When she finished her doctoral studies in Physical Education, Health, Recreation and Dance at the Ohio State University, her ever witty mother Lillian made the trek to Columbus to celebrate Peggy's big accomplishment.

Goal setting was hardwired into this small, but mighty Gazette. She taught at six different universities and in 1966 decided to come home to the Spokane area to a full professorship at Eastern Washington University, and to wholeheartedly assist her aging parents, whom she dearly loved.

She served at EWU for 21 years, primarily as a professor but also leading the way as Women's Athletic Director as well as Director of Physical Education and Graduate Programs. By the end of her professional career she had given more than 35 years to the development and advancement of women's physical education and athletics.

In the 50's, she accepted a teaching position at Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. She marveled at the Arabic traditions of this foreign land. Her time there was cut short, following the tragic death of her oldest sister Beverly.

She traveled around the world twice, one of her many trips to Europe included a visit to her father's birthplace in Northern Italy. Adventures to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, to Sitka, AK for the release of an eagle back to the wild - were all opportunities for sharing, observing, listening and learning.

She skied. She played golf. She also worked hard and played hard in the summers at the orchard in the Methow Valley where the taste of nectarines was indeed heavenly. Sometimes she even got the giggles.

She loved Spokane! Her parents, Andy and Lillian raised one incredible trailblazer, who showed all of us who knew her how to find the best way forward.

Her loving partner of 38 years, Barbara Augusta, her nieces, Andee Baker and Kathy Hastings know with certainty that the grand family reunion up above is well underway.

A Celebration of Life will be held on February 25, at 11am, located at Rockwood South Hill Retirement Community in Spokane. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Peggy Gazette Endowment Fund at http://ewu.edu/gazette.