 OWENS, MARGARETHA DAHMEN (PEGGY) passed away on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at the age of eighty-seven. She is survived by her husband, Albert T. Owens; their son, Theodor B. Owens; her brothers Lloyd C. Dahmen, Joseph Dahmen, and David Dahmen; her godchildren Denali, Connor and Maia Schmidt; and a large extended family. Peggy was the niece of Dr. Seuss, the much-loved childrens' book author, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. Dr. Seuss' book "I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew" was dedicated to her. She was a graduate of Kathryn Gibbs secretarial school in Boston, MA. Her classmates described her as "vivacious, witty, intelligent" and predicted a fun-filled future for a girl who had "what it takes". After graduation in 1950, she worked for Paine Webber in Boston, followed by three years at the Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina. Soon after moving to San Diego, California, Peggy found employment at the Navy Electronics Laboratory. This is where she met her future husband, Albert Owens, a Lieutenant in the Navy, and a graduate of Brown University and MIT. In 1952, Peggy and Al were married in La Jolla, CA, home of Dr. Seuss. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to New York where Al worked for a few months for Peggy's father as an engineering consultant in his furniture-manufacturing business. A few months later the young couple headed back to California where Al began his thrity-two-year-long career in the communications satellite field at the Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles. In addition to being an active member of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, Peggy generously served her community in many ways. She was a tutor for the remedial-reading program for children in public schools, and was a volunteer for both the UCLA Art Council and the UCLA Medical Center. At the Medical Center she worked in both outpatient pediatrics and the volunteer office, accumulating over eight thousand hours of volunteer service. After Al's retirement, he and Peggy moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be closer to their son, Ted. Peggy was an active member of St. Chad's Episcopal Church for many years, and was a highly dedicated volunteer at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, where she worked in the volunteer office for more than two decades. In 2007, she was awarded "The Presidents's Call-to-Service Award" from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation in Washington DC. Upon her retirement from the museum in 2012, she had logged 9,523 hoursmore volunteer hours than any other person in the organization's history. The museum created an award in her honor, naming it "The Peggy Owens Lifetime Achievement Award." Peggy was an avid gardener and was blessed with an innate sense of design for home interiors as well as landscaping. The xeric gardens she cultivated at her home were featured on numerous tours. Peggy unfailingly reached out to every person in need, and was known for her caring and kind personality, as well as her intelligence and her mischievous sense of humor. A memorial service will be held at St. Chad's Episcopal Church in Northeast Heights on Saturday morning, March 7th, at ten-thirty. In lieu on flowers, Peggy's family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimers Association of New Mexico.
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