Peggy Purdy Mason of Charlottesville, Virginia died on October 11, 2023 at the age of 88 at the Harmony House of the Bridgewater Retirement Community in Bridgewater, Virginia. She was born in Richmond, Virginia on November 27, 1934 to the late Frank A. and Margaret (Roberts) Purdy.
Peggy lived in Bon Air until her family moved to Bridgewater in 1948. She was a star basketball player at Bridgewater High School, from which she graduated in 1952. She met her future husband John Henry Mason at Bridgewater College in 1953 where she earned a degree in Home Economics in 1956. While at Bridgewater College, she enjoyed playing on the basketball team and singing in the Glee Club among other activities.
Peggy taught high school Home Economics and ran the community cannery in Orange, Virginia from 1956 to 1957. On June 15, 1957 she married John at the Bridgewater United Methodist Church. They moved to Lynchburg, Virginia and she taught at Biggers Elementary School for two years prior to starting her family.
For the next 17 years, Peggy devoted her life to raising her children. In 1976, she began a second teaching career with Albemarle County Public Schools, starting with a pilot program to educate expectant mothers. In 1977, she began teaching Home Economics at Burley Middle School, later moving to Henley Middle School and concluding her career at Walton Middle School in 1997. When asked how she could enjoy teaching middle school students for twenty years, she replied “I loved them!” Indeed, to love and be loved was the essence of Peggy.
She was a member of the Lynchburg, Danville, and Charlottesville Churches of the Brethren, where she especially enjoyed keeping the nursery. When she wasn’t busy teaching life skills to middle school students, Peggy took great care of her aging parents and numerous other family members and family friends. She enjoyed doting on her grandchildren, sewing and other needle crafts, serving as a Girl Scout leader, watching soap operas, sending birthday cards to a wide circle of friends and family and maintaining an immaculate home. She was famous for her pound cakes and snickerdoodles. After retirement she especially enjoyed joining friends for morning walks at the Fashion Square Mall in Charlottesville.
Peggy was preceded in death by her beloved grandmothers, Louise Purdy and Rosa Roberts, who helped raise her. She was also preceded in death by her parents and her parents-in-law, Luther L. and Edith (Snead) Mason.
Peggy is survived by her husband, John, of Bridgewater and her sister Marilyn Purdy Siron of Front Royal, Virginia. She is also survived by her 4 daughters: Cheryl Mason and her husband Paul Gager of Fort Madison, Iowa; Cathye Mason of Lincoln City, Oregon; Cynthia Mason and her husband Michael Leiter of Frederick, Maryland; and Candace Mason and her husband Bill Dister of Crozet, Virginia. In addition, Peggy is survived by her eleven grandchildren: Laura, Jacob and Abigail Mason-Marshall, William Michael Gager, Elisabeth Mason, Matteo Candelaria, Caitlyn and Evan Leiter-Mason and Jonah, Megan and Peter Mason Dister. She is also survived by her four great-grandchildren, Zelda, Louis, Atlas, and Max, as well as twelve cherished nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to thank each member of the Harmony House Team for their loving care of Peggy and John.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on November 4th at 11:00 AM at Lantz Chapel, Bridgewater Retirement Community, 302 N. Second Street, Bridgewater, Virginia, with a luncheon to follow.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity in memory of Peggy.
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