Margaret Mary Ward

Margaret Mary Ward Obituary April 16, 1947 - November 13, 2020 Margaret Mary was born April 16,1947 to Mary and James R. Gray of Rye Beach, NH. She grew up on Perkins Road and attended Portsmouth High School where she graduated from the class of 1965. While working in Boston, she met her husband George Edward Ward when his ship docked. She knew right away they would be married. She told him that she expected to be treated like a queen, and for all of these years, he did. They were married on February 3, 1968 and soon after their first child, Melissa, was born. George was honorably discharged from the Navy, and they made their home in Baltimore. Margaret stayed at home. In 1973, a second daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Margaret volunteered at school, became a Girl Scout Troop Leader, and raised her family. She and her best friend, Dawn Schaefer, pursued many passions: quilting, Chinese cooking lessons, volunteering, and in the summertime, Margaret took the girls to Rye Beach to work in her mother's family business. Once the children left home, she got her driver's license and began to work at a fabric store until cellulitis nearly took her life and her leg. No longer able to drive, she became more active in her church, Trinity United Methodist, and ran the thrift shop among other activities. She volunteered with her quilting groups to make breast cancer pillows and walker bags. Margaret always found ways to keep busy and loved keeping up with the extended family and friends on the telephone. In 2014, George and Margaret moved to Canton, Georgia to be close to Elizabeth and her family: husband, Paul; son, Andrew; and daughter, Megan. Melissa, and her husband, Keith, followed the family to Georgia the next year and eventually they all ended up living on the same street. The family lost Keith to cancer in 2018, but Margaret was already struggling with dementia. Then in 2019, her mother Mary passed. Margaret declined even more. Dementia is a long goodbye. It is a heart wrenching disease. We will never understand the full impact of how it led to her demise, but we are lucky in that she knew us right up to the end. She is survived by her brother James R. Gray Jr., his wife, Denise, niece Robyn and her family, as well as nephew, Justin and his new family; and her sister, Audra, and her niece Jaime and her family -- in addition to many beloved aunts and cousins, nieces and nephews, scattered across the United States. Due to Covid, we are having a simple service at the Veterans Cemetery in Canton, GA on November 23rd at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Dementia Society of America. www.dementiasociety.orgBurial NOV 23. 10:00 AM (EST) Poole Funeral Home & Cremation Services1970 Eagle DriveWoodstock, GA 30189