Margaret was born on the 29th of October in 1919; in the tiny rural community of Frost, in Navarro County, in East Texas; population at the time about 900. Her parents were Robert Lycurgus and Essie Jane Ramsey Moore, and in total there would be four children; the girls, Margaret and Essie Ruth, and brothers, Ramsey and Wayne.
When the girls started school, transportation was provided by old Blue, a horse that Margaret and Essie Ruth rode to school every day. And every day, Old Blue rejected crossing a small wooden bridge across a creek with anyone on his back, so the girls had to get down and lead the horse across the bridge.
In 1926, when Margaret was seven, the family moved to Dallas. There she continued her education, graduating from Sunset High School. She then attended North Texas Agricultural College (now the University of Texas Arlington) studying bookkeeping.
At a dance at NTAC, she met Harry A. Withers, Jr. of Fort Worth, and they married September 6, 1941.
Harry joined the Navy in early 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. After basic training, he was posted to the newly formed Navy Construction Battalion Center, Davisville, Rhode Island, and his bride joined him there.
The NCBC was an area of the huge Quonset Point Naval Air Station, and the birthplace of the SeaBees; the arm of the Navy that built everything from roads and runways to harbors.
When it became known that the family was about to increase by one, Margaret returned to Dallas for the birth of their son Dennis, in 1945; then rejoined her husband at his new SeaBee base in Port Hueneme, CA. This trip across half the country was made by Margaret and sister Essie Ruth, 2 month old Dennis and his 1 year old cousin Sharon. In the desert, the car actually lost a front wheel – but the determined sisters persevered.
After the war, the couple and their new son returned to Fort Worth, where daughter Judith was born in 1949.
Margaret was active with her children’s school PTAs, the Meadowbrook Methodist Church, and the Meadowbrook Garden Club. She was a very loving, nurturing and involved Mom.
One evening in 1955, Harry returned home from his work, and said,
“A couple of fellows and I are thinking about starting our own company.”
Margaret replied, “OK, what do you want for dinner?”
… and the new business, Trinity Forge, was born.
Trinity Forge prospered. As did the family. A large circle of life-long friends followed, as did membership in Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth; where Margaret took up golf avidly; and eventually became Women’s Club Champion … twice!
In 1972, the small family was left bereft when Harry died suddenly, at age 54.
At the time, Judy, a student at The University of Texas, supported her mother, and Dennis, an officer in the United States Navy, returned to Fort Worth to assume his father’s position at Trinity Forge. Along with his father’s partner, Wade Forman and the Forman family, the company continued to prosper.
Later in life, Margaret met William B. (Bill) McHarg, Sr., a Fort Worth businessman whose company McHarg Marble & Tile was well known for quality work. His signature project was the world renown Kimbell Museum. They were married in 1987 and remained together until his death in 2011.
Margaret had a joy of life, and a wonderfully mischievous sense of humor. She loved to travel, enjoying journeys with both of her husbands, to domestic and international destinations, vacations, and cruises around the world. She had a positive and optimistic outlook on life, never worrying about what was passed, but curious and enthusiastic about what would come next. She will be missed.
In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by her sister Essie Ruth, and brothers Ramsey and Wayne.
She is survived by her son, Dennis, and wife Jayne; and her daughter, Judy, and husband, Kenn Berry.
Grandchildren, Cory Withers and his wife, Danielle, Kate White and her husband, Boyd, McKenna Steirer and her husband, Steve.
Great-grandchildren, Marley and Miles Withers, and Shelby, Dane, and Jett Steadman.
She is also survived by her stepson, Bill McHarg, Jr. and his partner, Barbara Zell.
If you wish, a gift in her memory can be made to either the Gladney Center for Adoption (www.gladney.org), or St Jude’s Children’s Hospital (www.stjude.org), or a charity of your choice.
The family would like to express a debt of gratitude to Dawn Bransky and the wonderful people at Benevolent Hearts, for their professional, personal, and thoughtful care of Margaret.
A graveside service for family will be held at 3pm, February 12th, at Moore Memorial Gardens, 1219 N. Davis Dr, Arlington.
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