M. Margaret Margaret Cheney

She was born in Haverhill, MA on November 7, 1919, the daughter of David F. and Hermina (Sikora) O’Connell. Mrs. Cheney grew up in Lexington and Littleton, MA and was a 1937 graduate of Littleton High School. She went on to graduate from Tufts University in 1941 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Mrs. Cheney then worked for Dewey & Almy in Cambridge, MA as a lab researcher for two years.

On September 24, 1944, she married Neil M. Cheney, Jr., in Cambridge, MA.

Due to her husband’s Army and professional career, the Cheney family lived in a variety of places including, Bloomington, IN, Lockport, NY, Buffalo, NY, Lafayette, CA and then Framingham, MA. Mr. and Mrs. Cheney moved to Framingham in 1958 and lived there for the next 23 years.

During their time in Framingham, Mrs. Cheney went back to work as a Medical Librarian at the Framingham Union Hospital. She then worked at the Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, MA, where she reorganized the medical library. After 11 years at Leonard Morse, Mrs. Cheney ended her career at the hospital as the Head Librarian.

Mr. and Mrs. Cheney then moved from Framingham to Hancock, NH living there for the next 18 years before settling in Keene.

Mrs. Cheney and her husband took up bicycle touring in the early 1970s. Together, they made numerous bike trips through Ireland, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the US, and Canada. They organized and led tours of Ireland and New Hampshire. Their last cycling trip was in Bavaria in 2003, although they continued to ride their bikes around Keene until 2008.

Mrs. Cheney also enjoyed gardening and recently took up quilting.

Survivors include her two sons: Jonathan of Brookline, MA, and Neil and his wife Anne of Auburndale, MA; daughter Gail McCabe and her husband Bernard of Quechee, VT; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren; two brothers David O’Connell, of Paradise, CA and John O’Connell of Brooksville, FL; two sisters Dorothea Offutt of Orlando, FL and Ruth Albertson, also of Orlando, FL. Mrs. Cheney’s husband, Neil M. Cheney, Jr., died in 2010.

A Liturgy of the Word will be held on Friday, September 14th, 2012, 11:00 AM at St. Bernard’s Church. A private family burial will be held later that day.

Fletcher Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 33 Marlboro St., Keene, NH is in charge of the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in memory of Mrs. Cheney to the Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests, 54 Portsmouth St., Concord, NH 03301.