Margaret Mary "Peg" Howard of Severna Park passed away quietly and peacefully at home on Sunday, January 7, 2018. Throughout her three-month illness and at her passing, Peg was lovingly attended by her nine children, having been pre-deceased by her husband, Tom, five years earlier. She was 84.

Peg leaves a legacy of action, especially action fueled by optimism, determination, and compassion.

Born as Peggy Love on September 14, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA, she grew up in the surrounding suburbs and attended West Catholic High School and Fitzgerald Mercy Nursing School, where, as a student nurse, she met her future husband, life-long partner and biggest fan, Tom Howard. Tom and Peggy started their family in Upper Darby, PA, and in 1966 relocated to Cape St. Claire in Annapolis, MD, where they would go on to raise seven daughters and two sons and create countless memories.

Peg first demonstrated her penchant for activism in raising her children. For example, Peg sought out athletic and other organized community-based opportunities for her daughters, only to discover they didn't exist like they did for boys. So with her indomitable, can-do spirit, Peg created those opportunities by organizing Girl Scout troops, coaching a fledgling swim team, and persistently lobbying the Cape St. Claire Rec League to fund and organize girls' sports. Her feminist sensibilities heightened, Peg continued to confront gender inequities throughout her life, from spearheading a campaign to do away with a rule requiring only females to wear bathing caps to exploring pathways to the priesthood for women in the Catholic church.

This relentless determination of Peg's, along with her optimism, informed one of her core beliefs: that if there is a will, there's a way. When eight of her nine children required much-needed and cost-prohibitive orthodontic care, Peg took a job as an orthodontic assistant, which resulted in them getting the treatment they needed and her beginning to build the office skills she eventually took to a position as a secretary at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD.  While employed at NIH, Peg saw a recruiting poster offering a college degree in nursing in exchange for service as a nurse at NIH.  She jumped at the opportunity to complete her long-ago interrupted career ambitions.  In 1985 at the age of 51 she earned a BS from Georgetown University and was honored by her fellow graduates when she was voted "Most Likely to Succeed."

Peg thrived as a nurse at NIH, especially valuing her role as an oncology nurse on the front lines of treating patients suffering from the newly emerging disease of AIDS. She was also instrumental in creating prostate cancer support groups, which were somewhat innovative for the time, to help men better cope with their illness. It was at NIH that Peg was able to stamp her signature blend of heart and humor onto the routine practice of day-to-day nursing care.  It was here Peg saw she had a gift for helping people encounter their pains and challenges and find ways to rise above them.  It was here she got the idea to return to school yet again, this time to pursue an MS in counseling from George Washington University. Peg graduated from GW in 1989 and shortly after founded her private psychotherapy practice, which grew and thrived for many years.  In fact, Peg hung up her "counseling spurs" only four years ago at the age of 80, and continued up until her illness to act as "counselor emeritus" by informally counseling former clients and associates. Over time, a name for these conversations developed; they were called "getting pegged."

Peg's pursuit of opportunity went beyond her own needs and the needs of her family. She was also very much a supporter of human rights and social justice causes. She was quick to see and label injustice and just as quick to lend a hand, a voice, a shoulder in efforts to combat it. Over the years, she and Tom would open their home to those in need of shelter, warmth and food. Her children fondly remember Peg explaining they would need to double-up on sleeping arrangements so a neighbor and her four daughters could move into the already-crowded Howard household for a few months. She was a long-time member of the Peace and Justice committee at St. Andrew by-the-Bay Catholic Church; a founding member of the Pilgrim Community, an alternative Catholic worship group; and an active participant in many civic and political movements.

Peg attributed much of her success as a wife, mother, and therapist to the experience, strength and hope she acquired through her many years of Al-Anon involvement. Over the years, she and Tom found great reward and great purpose in their respective 12 Step programs and many, many rich and meaningful relationships. Of course, when Peg first sought help from Al-Anon for her ailing family in the mid-1970's, there's no way she could have known she was embarking on a path that would eventually, and quite literally, transform her marriage, her family, and the lives of countless others. In the words of one of Peg's Al-Anon friends, "She was a woman of grace, determination, and love… She was one in a million…"

Not only in Al-Anon, but in life in general, Peg made many friends and made them easily. While at NIH she became friends with the author of Wit , a Pulitzer-prize winning play, who trusted Peg to supply authenticity and real-life perspective to the play's dialogue as it was being developed. While this was great fun for Peg, she was not a woman easily impressed by celebrity, as evidenced by the photograph of her with several members of the cast of Breaking Bad , all of whom came to know her name, even though she never watched their show.

Peg's friendly nature was just one feature of her great love for people and for life.  She was also someone who said yes to opportunity, both often and loudly.  She had a particular passion for education and travel.  She was a 30-year member of a book club and pursued both credit and non-credit classes at Anne Arundel Community College, activities that challenged, enriched and inspired her.  Peg was also an intrepid traveler, having visited Asia, various sites in Europe, and even making an African safari at the age of 79 (which resulted a few months later in an elephant tattoo on her left shoulder). This fun-loving nature of Peg's is why her family often described her as a peacock. Whenever a microphone was in reach, you could count on Peggy for a show. Whether it be the tap dancing talent she honed throughout her 70's or the Liza Minelli interpretation she performed just this past summer to a packed house of karaoke fans, all of them enthusiastically shouting her name, Peg never failed to show just how deeply she loved the spirited, surprising, wild ride that was her life.

She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by so, so many, but especially by her children, which include daughters Kathy Meredith, Jeanie Yaroch, Dettie Wagner, Patty Schiro, Barbi Conord, Rainy Delaney, Ginger Baker, and sons Chris Howard and Matt Howard, and by their spouses. She will also be loved and remembered by her 26 grandchildren and 23 (and counting) great-grandchildren, many of whom live in the Severna Park area.

Circumstances exist that allow for a delay in commemorating Peg's passing. Therefore, the family warmly invites you to Peg's Memorial Mass at St. Andrew by-the-Bay Catholic Church on Wednesday, April 11, at 10:00 a.m. with a reception to follow. The church strongly insists flowers not be sent for the occasion. Instead, those interested in acknowledging Peg's passing are asked to contribute to one of the following organizations, all of them causes near to Peg's heart: Chrysalis House in Crownsville, MD; Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD; or St. Andrew by-the-Bay Catholic Church, Cape St. Claire, MD.