Margaret Boyd Perdue

Margaret Boyd Perdue died peacefully on June 27, 2012 after a brief illness. She was born in 1927 to Dr. Montague Laffitte Boyd of Savannah and Mrs. Margaret Phillips Boyd of La Grange. She attended Washington Seminary and Vassar College.

As a child she attended art classes at Mrs. High’s art academy and became a Girl Scout. This began a remarkable career as a “professional volunteer” helping lead the Girl Scouts and the High Museum through decades of dramatic growth. She accomplished as much behind the scenes as she did in the numerous leadership roles she held in each organization.

After years as a Girl Scout and Troop leader, she joined the board of the Girl Scouts and served over several decades. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. She and her late husband R.L. Perdue were instrumental in developing Camp Meriwether, which hosts thousands of scouts each year.

She was a part of a generation of Atlantans who were inspired to fill the vacuum created by the loss of art and civic leaders who perished in the Orly crash. After serving as President of the Atlanta Junior League in 1963, she served as President of the High Museum’s Member’s Guild, joined the Board of Trustees, and held many positions including Board Chair. It is fitting that the Board Room at the High Museum is named in her honor.

She was a Trustee Emeritus at The Westminster Schools, A.G. Rhodes Health and Rehab, and the Woodruff Arts Center. She was also a member of the Habersham Garden Club, the Society of Colonial Dames, and the “CLUB”. In all of these endeavors, she was a maker and keeper of friends of all ages and a mentor to many. In 1995 she was recognized as Georgia Fundraising Volunteer of the Year.

She attended Aloha Camp in Vermont as a camper and counselor, accompanied her father on a canoe trip down the Allagash River in Maine and helped him navigate the 32-foot cruiser built in his back yard from Savannah to Lake Michigan. She was well matched to her life long partner and husband of 55 years Rhodes L. Perdue. Together they went on several safaris in east Africa, and shared a passion for quail hunting and the out of doors. Nothing gave them more pleasure than entertaining friends and family at their farm in southwest Georgia.

She is pre-deceased by her husband Rhodes L. Perdue, and her brother and sister-in-law Montague and Jane Boyd. She is survived by son and daughter-in-law Rhodes and Juli Perdue; daughter and son-in-law Margaret and Dallas Denny; and son and daughter-in-law David and Elizabeth Perdue; and seven grandchildren: Phebe Perdue; Alden, Dallas, and Rhodes Denny; and Jack, Gus and Gwynn Perdue. Additional survivors include her sister-in-law Jan Chase and her husband George, as well as her nieces and nephews in the Boyd and Chase families. The family would also like to recognize the many years of support and companionship of Viola Williams and Teresa Platt.

Memorial service will be held Saturday, June 30 at 10 o’clock a.m. at Patterson’s Spring Hill Chapel. Private interment for the family will follow at Westview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the High Museum of Art or the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. Online condolences may be made at hmpattersonspringhill.com.