Margaret "Peggy" Oxley

Her loving family sadly reports that Margaret “Peggy” C. Oxleypassed away on Sat, May 9 at age 90.  Born on April 1, 1930, in Petaluma, CA to the late James C. Stewart and Clara T. (Whiting) Bomboy,she was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Dr. Joseph H. Oxley, and her brother, Archer W. Stewart.  “Nanny” is survived by her children—Linda Oxley, Carolyn Greiner, Joan Willis (Michael), Joseph Oxley (Sheree), James Oxley (Pam), and Laura Oxley; her grandchildren—Emily Hardin (Trey), Alison Pecquet (Michael), Stuart Willis (Sadye), Molly Larkin (Francis), Evan Allison, Zoe Greiner, A.J. Greiner, Ryan Keener (Garrett Felske), Rebecca Hillard (JB), and Victor Brechbill; and her great-grandchildren—Alex Foley, Dawes and Jaiden Hardin, Sophia and Ava Willis, Adrianna and Aubrey Hyden, and newest addition Jane Larkin.

Peggy attended the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in journalism, until she married Joe Oxley.  While raising the family and doing volunteer work in schools, Peggy became very interested in working with children.  Consequently, she returned to the Ohio State University to earn a B.S. summa cum laude in elementary education in 1973 and then later, an M.A. in Language Arts, Literature, and Reading in 1984.

Peggy taught second grade at St. Paul Catholic School in Westerville for her entire 43-year teaching career, not retiring until age 86. She was profoundly fulfilled and passionate about inspiring children to love to read and write, and developing the integrated curricula and culture to immerse her students into literature and poetry.

Peggy was a long-time active member of many education and literacy organizations including the National Council of Teachers English (NCTE) (Notable Children’s Books chair 1995-96; Excellence in Poetry for Children co-chair 2003-06), and The Literacy Connection (as its longtime President), a teacher support group, and presented frequently at teachers’ conferences and in-services.

Peggy is a co-author of Reading and Writing, Where It All Begins:  Helping your Children at Home (1991), a contributing author to Teaching With Children’s Books:  Paths to Literature-Based Instruction, and a contributor to Book Links:  Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms.  She won the 1988 Columbus Diocesan Teacher of the Year Award, the 1990 Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA) Outstanding English Language Arts Elementary Educators Award, the 1991 IRA Celebrate Literacy:  Exemplary Service in the Promotion of Literacy Award, the 1994 Ohio State University Mary Karrer Award for “outstanding contributions in bringing children and books together,” and the 2004 Pi Lambda Theta (Honorary) Citation for outstanding work in Literacy Education for the 21st Century, among others.

Peggy loved all things natural—animals and their habitats --and supported the preservation of the natural world.  She will be dearly missed by her loving family.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the family will hold a private funeral on Thurs, May 14 at Egan-Ryan Funeral Home, 4661 Kenny Rd, and burial at Resurrection Cemetery next to her husband.   Donations can be made to the charity of your choice in her name.

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