Margaret Murchison Corse

Born Margaret Wadsworth Murchison on March 15, 1929, to Charles Holton Murchison and Helen Spratt Murchison, she was the second of two daughters. She soon came to be known as Muffet.

Muffet was precocious and began school a year early. She graduated from The Bartram School in 1946. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, but finding the New England weather too harsh, transferred to Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year, graduating in 1950.

Six months into her first job after college, excited to start a career at the US State Department, Muffet came home for Christmas and was invited to a party at the beach by a good friend. When she climbed into the car with her date, there was a handsome man in the backseat whom she had never met. He was a submariner stationed in Norfolk, on brief holiday leave from the Navy to see his family, who also had deep Jacksonville roots. He called Muffet once she’d returned to DC and just before he headed out to sea. All in all, they had 12 dates wherever he could get any weekend leave, which turned out to be just enough.

On August 5, 1951, Muffet and John Doggett Corse were married at St. John's Cathedral, beginning a marriage that lasted 69 years. In their first year together, the Navy continued to move them around and Muffet enjoyed meeting John at different ports in the Mediterranean. They were eventually stationed in New London, Connecticut, where their first child was born. Their next move was to Charlottesville, Virginia, after John decided to retire from the Navy to pursue a degree at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Shared passions for education, literature, and the arts amplified Muffet’s and John’s impact on each city they called home: Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlottesville (again) and then back full circle to Jacksonville. While busy raising four children, Muffet’s mind never rested. As President of The Junior League of Jacksonville, she led a project to underwrite a TV series on the arts, which won several awards and was incorporated into the Duval County Public Schools’ curriculum. For many years, Muffet served on the Boards and Executive Committees of the Jacksonville Symphony and the Jacksonville Art Museum (MOCA), and the Board of the Bartram School.

When John’s career took the family to Atlanta, Muffet was elected to the Board of the Forward Arts Foundation and spent many years devoted to various fundraising efforts for the Swan Coach House. Following another of John’s career moves, she was also elected a member of the Bayly Art Museum (Fralin Museum of Art) in Charlottesville.

Muffet returned to career ventures in Atlanta. She got her MSW and clinical training, working first as a therapist at Georgia Mental Health, and then as an Educational Counselor. She later shifted gears with three close friends and founded Habersham Antiques, which had a showroom in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. Two years later, she partnered with another friend in Adamson-Miller Antiques. Much later, and most recently, Muffet was a devoted reading tutor for the Pass Program at Carter G. Woodson Elementary School.

For the better part of a century, Muffet’s uncommon mind found its match in John’s, and they reveled in their boundless curiosity. Well into their 80’s, Muffet and John were avid bridge players and voracious readers who belonged to four book clubs at once. Muffet was also a rabid sports fan, especially of tennis and football, and loved the Jaguars.

Above all, Muffet treasured her relationships both inside and outside of family. She adored her friends and their children, known as someone on whom they could always count. She was engaged deeply with her own four children, as well as eight grandchildren, often traveling far and wide to see them for holidays and special occasions. Ultimately, Muffet will always be remembered for her enormous heart, her unusually high energy, her sparkling mind, laser wit, and her extraordinary ability to make people feel that their stories, ambitions and dreams were important and compelling.

Muffet was predeceased by her husband, John; sons, Cameron and John Corse Jr.; and her brother-in-law, Edward Lane. She is survived by her sister, Helen Murchison Lane; her daughters, Carita Kelly and Margaret Hicks; her sons-in-law Ned Kelly and David Hicks; and her daughter-in-law, Andrea Corse. She will be missed by her grandchildren: Ted, Margaret and John Kelly; Alexa and Cameron Corse; and Helen, Charles and Eliza Hicks.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 18 at 2:00 pm at St. John’s Cathedral with Reception to follow in Taliaferro Hall. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to St. John’s Cathedral (221 East Church St.) or Jacksonville Public Education Fund (40 East Adams St., Suite 110) both located in Jacksonville, FL, 32202.