It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of our beloved mother and grandmother, Margaret H. (Pickett/Rzasa) Reed, 77, of Worcester. She passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at CareOne at Millbury.
Margaret attended Blessed Sacrament Grammar School in Worcester and went on to graduate from Sacred Heart Academy (class of 1966) also in Worcester. After graduation she married her high school sweetheart, John Rzasa, and started a family. Years later, upon remarrying and moving with her children to Brookfield, she worked as a hostess at Rom’s Restaurant (Sturbridge), and then as a waitress at Salem Cross Inn (West Brookfield). She both worked and volunteered at Brookfield Elementary School, was a devoted member of St. Mary’s Parish in Brookfield, was an active member of M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) for several years, was owner/operator/cook at her own breakfast/lunch place (“Old Quaboag Kitchen” in Brookfield), a Special Education teacher at Tantasqua Jr. High School (Sturbridge), and we were all extra proud of her when, after a second divorce, wanting to help others, she went back to school in her 40’s to get her degree in Occupational Therapy from Quinsigamond Community College. She put her degree to good use at Gateway (Pleasant St. in Worcester) where she was a well-loved counselor, and when Gateway closed, she brought her love of helping people to Westborough State Hospital and worked there until it closed its doors in 2010.
Margaret was loved by all who had the pleasure of knowing her. She cared deeply about people, listened to them, and touched many lives with her loving presence.
Margaret had many interests, but what she enjoyed most was spending time with her family. Nothing made her happier than having her kids together, and spending time with her grandchildren, siblings, siblings-in-law, and nieces and nephews.
Most importantly though, Margaret had a very strong faith in God. She grew up in the Catholic Church and her faith was always important to her, but her relationship with God changed dramatically and deepened markedly in late 1987 when she invited Jesus to take over her life, began studying the bible, and became a woman of prayer.
Until God called her Home, Margaret was the loving mother of Lauren Christy of Worcester, Gretchen Gauthier of Pasadena, Maryland, and Justen Reed and his wife, Susan, of Summerfield, Florida, and the adored grandmother of Kevin Christy of Cotati, California, and Elizabeth and Judson Gauthier of Pasadena, Maryland. The youngest of four children born to the late John F. Pickett and Vivian (Morse) Pickett of Worcester, Margaret leaves behind her sisters, Vivian Peluso and Kathleen Pickett, both of Worcester, as well as her sister-in-law, Linda Pickett, of Loveland, Colorado. She also leaves her nephew, John F. Pickett III and his wife, Jenny, and their two sons, Matt and Will, of Berthoud, Colorado, her nephew, Craig Peluso and his daughter, Gianna, of Auburn, her nephew, Michael Peluso, of Worcester, and her niece, Maryanne Peluso and her fiancé, Kenny Morales, and their sons Conor and Owen, of Marlborough. Margaret was predeceased by her brother, John F. Pickett II (“Jack”), of Loveland, Colorado, her brother-in-law, Robert Peluso, of Worcester, and her nephew, Joseph Pickett, of Loveland, Colorado.
A Celebration of Life service for Margaret will be held at Holden Chapel, 279 Reservoir Street, Holden, MA 01520 on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 10:30am. Light refreshments to follow downstairs in the Community Room after the service.
Alfred Roy & Sons Funeral Home 12 Hammond St. Worcester directed arrangements. To share a memory or to sign the guestbook, please visit www.Royfuneral.com