Peggy Jo Russell

Born on April 9, 1939 in Trenton, New Jersey, to Luther and Rayma Weibel, Peggy is survived by her beloved husband Jon of 58 years, loving daughter Kim Lignore, son-in-law Robert Lignore, cherished granddaughters Tessa and Claire Lignore, sisters Barbara Robinson and Rayma Scalzo, and brothers-in-law Duane Robinson and Joseph Scalzo.

Peggy moved around a lot as a child. In her early years, she lived in Clinton and Greenville, Tennessee, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina. As a junior in high school, she moved west to Hillsborough, California and graduated with honors from Burlingame High School. Little did she know, she would spend decades in California, meeting the love of her life, Jon, being a mom, and developing life-long friendships. She studied to be a teacher at UCSB and found a deep bond of sisterhood in her Delta Gamma sorority where she attended many reunions through the years, spending the night in her old sorority house.

She began her career as a first grade teacher in East San Jose with over forty kids in each of her classes. Although Peggy loved teaching, she would later find that working as a realtor allowed her to also be a doting mom to her only daughter Kim. Her passion for real estate spanned over 25 years in Silicon Valley. She was an owner of Whitecliff Realty in Los Altos, which later merged with Coldwell Banker. In Mountain View, California, Peggy met Jon and married in August of 1963. They lived most of their lives in Los Altos, California, where they raised their daughter and found community in a close-knit neighborhood. Peggy enjoyed travel, a few of her favorite places were the beaches of Hawaii and Broadway shows in New York. For their 50th wedding anniversary, Peggy and Jon treated their daughter and family to an unforgettable magical Mediterranean cruise.

In addition to travel, Peggy loved to surprise family and friends with gifts just because. Tessa and Claire spent many a visit to Los Altos trying clothes on. She had a philanthropic side as well, volunteering for Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. and the P.E.O. While living in California, Peggy and Jon visited San Francisco regularly where they attended plays and went to the symphony and opera. Highly sociable and competitive, she enjoyed playing bridge with close friends.

In November of 2012, Peggy and Jon moved into a cottage at Rogue Valley Manor in Medford, OR to be closer to their daughter and family. There, she established a wonderful circle of friends, continued to travel, go to shows, play bridge, dote on her grandchildren, and mostly, spend time with her loving husband, Jon.

Peggy will be deeply missed by everyone she touched throughout her lifetime. Her beautiful smile, classy style, kindness and caring soul, will forever live in the hearts of all who knew her. A celebration of life will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Medford, OR on Peggy’s birthday, April 9, 2022 at 11AM, and a graveside memorial will be held later at Spring River Cemetery in Verona, MO, where generations of Jon’s family are interred. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the American Diabetes Association, https://www.diabetes.org/ways-to-give.