Obituary of Margaret E. Matthews

Margaret Elizabeth Matthews died May 2, 2010, at the age of 94, at Brookhaven in Lexington. Margaret was a highly energetic, playful and strong-willed woman. She grew up and went to college in El Paso, Texas, where she was married to Charles Monroe. She briefly worked in Germany after World War II, then moved to Washington DC and met her future husband, John B. Matthews, Jr. while both worked in the Pentagon. John became a professor at Harvard Business School, and Margaret became a full-time mother and very active Lexingtonian. She worked with the League of Women Voters for years, and was especially proud to be active in METCO, the Metropolitan Council for Opportunity that believed in school desegregation as a means to improve the potential for Boston's inner city youth. She was an officer for over twenty years for the Friends of McLean Hospital, and served as its President. And she helped scores of people quit smoking as a trained teacher in the "SmokEnders" program. Margaret also volunteered at Rosie's Place, the shelter and sanctuary for poor and homeless women in Boston. She was a founding member of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Lexington. Margaret and John also lived in Belmont, MA for several years, where they played rambunctious tennis at the Belmont Hill Club. After John died and Margaret moved to Brookhaven, she was happily active in that community as well, enjoying its many group events and serving as President of its Residents Committee. Margaret was the loving mother of Noralyn Gail Monroe Word of Indian Harbour Beach, FL; Joan Monroe Burt Brannon of Ruidoso, NM; Martha Anne Matthews and her husband Arthur Reiger of Washington, DC; and Laurel (Laurie) Marion Matthews and her husband Scott Haralson of Boston, MA . She was grandmother of Kay Edmondson Cooper; Bill Word, Mike Word, Lisanne Word Plymale, Lee Word Parker; and most proudly, great-grandmother of 13. A memorial service in her honor will be held at Pilgrim Congregational Church, Coolidge Avenue, Lexington, on Friday, May 14 at 11:00am. Relatives and friends are warmly invited. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to Rosie's Place, 889 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02118. On line guest book at www.brownandhickey.com.