Margaret Hubbell Beebe died peacefully at her home at The Osborn in Rye, N.Y. on February 10, 2022. She was 95 years old.
Born on Mother’s Day, May 9, 1926, she was the daughter of Helen and Sherwood Hubbell. She and her sister, Martha, grew up in Garden City, N.Y., where their grandfather served as the first mayor. Peggy, as she was known, loved to recount stories from childhood — a band of cousins living next door, skating on Hubbell’s Pond in the winter, and traveling to Chazy, N.Y. on Lake Champlain to escape the summer heat.
After graduating from Pine Manor College in Massachusetts, she volunteered as a nurse during World War II and wrote regularly to the love of her life, John Eldridge Beebe, while he served as an Army officer in the Philippines. They married shortly after his safe return on September 7, 1946, and later welcomed two children, Jack and Martha. Throughout their 70 years together, they lived in Princeton, N.J., where John completed his degree; their shared hometown of Garden City; Oyster Bay, N.Y.; and Hilton Head, S.C. Every summer, they returned to their home in Lake Placid, N.Y. where they were surrounded by friends, family, and the landscape they loved best.
An avid gardener, Peggy could often be found with her hands in the earth. She brought life and color to neighbor’s gardens as well as her own and served on garden clubs and altar guilds in New York and South Carolina. She loved birds, especially hummingbirds, and believed that several of them followed her from her South Carolina garden to her porch feeders and window boxes in Lake Placid. She was fond of all animals, but dogs were always her favorite. Even after her own loyal companions passed away, she doted on her neighbors’ dogs, grand-dogs, and great-grand-dogs. Her pockets were always filled with puppy biscuits in case she happened upon a four-legged friend during her frequent walks.
Peggy Beebe was crafty, clever, witty, and sometimes wicked. She was a card shark, a painter, a restorer of old furniture, and an excellent seamstress. Together with her beloved husband, she traveled the world, played countless rounds of golf, and never missed a cocktail hour. She is no doubt enjoying some Canadian Club with him now.
She was predeceased by her husband John in 2016 and by her son, Jack Beebe, in 2020. She is survived by her daughter, Martha Knowles and son-in-law Kenneth Knowles; four grandchildren, William Knowles (Amy), Eliza Park (Doug), Laura LeClair (Frank), and Jake Beebe (Danielle); as well as seven great-grandchildren.
Donations in Peggy Beebe’s memory may be made to the Adirondack Foundation for “Keep Placid Pure”, P.O. Box 288, Lake Placid, NY 12946, or Christ’s Church, Rectory Street, Rye, NY 10580.
