WESTERLY- Margaret S. (Fleming Fitzgerald) Graham, age 95, of Old Mystic CT, died on the 14th of November at the Carriage House at the Elms in Westerly, RI surrounded by her children.
Margaret was born November 12, 1907 in Centralia, Washington, the daughter of Blanche (Stephens) Fleming Fitzgerald of Boring, Oregon and John Fleming. She graduated in 1925 from Gresham High School and from the University of Washington, class of 1930. She majored in English and Drama and taught in the Auburn, Washington schools in the early 1930’s. In 1935, she married the late Daniel B. Southard. They moved to Wilton, CT, where Margaret resided at 555 Danbury Rd. from 1943 until 1986. She taught at the Gilbert and Bennett School during World War II and was active in the Wilton PlayShop, Wilton Child and Family Services and was a member of the Wilton Riding Club. She spent many summers swimming, playing bridge, and spending time with friends at Great Pond in Ridgefield.
In the middle 1950’s she received her Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology from Southern Connecticut University. She served as a Speech and Hearing therapist and audiologist in the Danbury school system from the early 1960’s. She was married to the late D. Gordon Graham of New Rochelle, NY from 1961 until his death in 1966. In 1967 she attended Columbia University Teachers College and later went to the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India on a Teaching Fellowship. She returned to the Danbury School System where she was known for her innovative approach to reaching children with hearing difficulties through horseback riding and through her special gift for teaching. She was known as a kind, loving, and generous friend to all who knew her.
She is survived by her children Gloria Southard Parker Bradley and Frank D. Battastini of Stonington, CT; Peggy Ho and Daniel B. Southard Jr. of Redding, CT; Suzanne Southard and Edward E. Blackman of New Fairfield, CT and her grandchildren Thomas C. Parker III of Ormond Beach, FL, Daniel S. Parker of Stonington, CT, Stehpanie (Southard) Mauri of Kent, CT, Mimi H. Southard of Redding, CT, Thomas and Chris Blackman of New Fairfiled, CT and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. She is also survived by a stepson David P. Graham, his wife Sandy of Woodbury, CT, his children and grandchildren; a stepdaughter Carol Walsh who predeceases her, her children and grandchildren; a stepsister Dorothy Fitzgerald Dalton of Oregon and two stepsisters in California.
A Memorial Service will be held at the Mystic Congregational Church on East Main Street on Tuesday, November 19 at 11:00am. Internment will be at a later date. Donations in her memory may be made to the Alzheimers Association of CT, 2911 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden CT 06518.