Margaret Padgham

Margaret Arline Padgham passed away on July 10, 2020 at the age of 92. Margaret was born to Barbara and Carl Carlson on October 14th, 1927 in Toppenish, Washington. She had three sisters, Barbara Thiel, Catherine Chambers and Mary Strother and three brothers, Louis Roberts, Richard Carlson and Charles Carlson, who preceded her in death. Margaret finished her schooling in Toppenish and attended CWU briefly before meeting her husband Dave Padgham in 1946 at a dance he was playing. They were inseparable after that and married in 1947, moving to the Padgham family homestead in Sunnyside WA. Margaret became an extraordinary homemaker and mother of nine children, 7 girls and 2 boys. She was a role model to her family and lived her life with integrity, compassion and generosity, striving to instill these qualities in her children. In addition to providing her guidance and wonderful cooking and baking skills, Margaret worked full time as a clerk at Eastway Pharmacy in Sunnyside for 30 years. She somehow also managed to sew clothing for her daughters, provide access to music lessons or whatever specific interest her child had. She was a member of the St. Monica Guild at St. Joseph’s Catholic church and performed or participated in numerous musical comedy shows with the Lower Valley Musical Comedy. Margaret never seemed to run out of energy and even took in an infant foster child briefly. When she retired and relocated to Prosser in 1991, she became a volunteer and eventually a manager at Jubilee Ministries in Prosser. She remained a volunteer until her husband passed away and she moved to an assisted living facility. In January of 2020 Margaret moved to Rosetta Memory Care in Pasco, where she lived until her passing, in the loving care provided by them. Margaret is survived by her children, MaryBeth Matthews, Elaine Vandervert (John), John Padgham (Jan), Tom Padgham, Catherine Rider (Larry), Margie Madsen (Pete), Emily Bean (Wayne), Claire Price (Michael) and Carolyn Padgham-Walker (Steve). She had 20 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren and 3 great great grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Until recently, she was able to attend family celebrations where almost all of her large family gathered and she loved being with them. Margaret’s beautiful spirit and kind heart were an inspiration to all who knew her. She had many friends and people who sought her out over the years for advice, her boundless generosity and especially her delicious culinary skills. She loved having the seats around her table filled and enjoyed cooking and baking for anyone who wanted to partake. She had a never ending supply of cookies and loved having kids and grandkids drop in to appreciate whatever was coming out of the oven. Her motto and constant reminder to her children was ‘Love One Another’ and she was truly a perfect example of living her life in accordance with that belief. She will be missed but we know she is finally reunited with her life long love, David. The family would like to thank the staff of Rosetta Memory Care, and Tri-Cities Chaplaincy for their kindness and loving care of our mother. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Margaret Padgham, please visit our flower store.