Marguerite Stuart "Peggy" Colter (Morgan)

Marguerite (Peggy) Stuart Morgan Colter left us on Monday, September 19th, 2016.
It would be impossible for me to try to accurately describe just how much she meant to her family and those who she called a friend over her 93+ years here with us, but will share some of her many highlights, passions & loves as well as I can at this very difficult time.
My Mom Peggy was born on August 4th, 1923, to Joseph & Laura Morgan, the 4th of 4 children. She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings: George, Rena and Grant, sisters-in-law Laura & Enid Morgan, her ex-husband, my father Ron, and her nephew Philip. She is survived by her only son, William, his fiancee Kristine Lee, niece Sandra Morgan, nephew David Colter, nieces Laura Becker, Mona Midden, their parents Robert & Loreta Colter, and many, many loving, caring friends whom she did think of as family as well.
The visitation for Peggy will be held at Carson-Speaks Chapel 1501 W. Lexington, in Independence, MO. On Monday September 26th from 6-8 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church 409 N. Liberty, Independence, MO. On Tuesday September 27th at 10:30 a.m. with a luncheon reception in the parish hall following the burial, which will be at Mound Grove cemetery on N. River blvd. after the church service.
Peggy attended St. Mary’s in Independence, then William Chrisman high school where she graduated in 1941. She then matriculated to UMKC, and while there, worked as a secretary to the manager of the Red Cross. She was also quite proud of her volunteer work with her sister Rena Morgan, as they both gave their time to the Disaster Preparedness Committee for many years. After receiving her BA degree, she began her long teaching career at Abbott school in KC, KS. It was during this time that she was being courted by her future husband, my Dad, Ronald Colter. My appearance in March of 1966 led her to begin thinking about opening her own pre-school, which she did after taking the Montessori training, and led to the birth of the somewhat famous “Happy House Montessori Pre-school” in our home she had built with my Dad. Her school was flourishing, and before too long, more space was needed, so our barn was renovated, and the school was moved across the property, where she taught until 1984, when she first retired. 2 years later, the minister at Trinity, Father Bruce Rahtjen, thought it might be a great idea to start a school there at the church, and provided my Mom with the inspiration to start teaching again in 1986. There, Father Rahtjen and my Mom were able to blend the great concepts of Montessori teaching with many facets of church teachings as well. I will say that it is nearly impossible to explain to you the extent of the joy that she did get out of teaching, and being around children. She did, however, finally decide to retire for good in 1993, after a long & very much enjoyed teaching career.
Peggy was also fond of talking about how former 1st lady Bess Truman attended her & my Dad’s wedding, and how the Trumans would come to the orchard my grandparents had to pick peaches and apples. And she counts among her favorite possessions some of the letters that she received from Mrs. Truman. Yes, I do get a kick out of saying I am almost the only person I know whose parents & grandparents were friends with the 1st family of the United States!
My Mom also greatly enjoyed spending time with her family and many friends, many of whom she had known since her early years, but I have yet to encounter anyone that was not touched by her, even if they only had met her once or twice. I was always so proud and pleased when a parent or a former student would recognize her and approach her when we were at a store, or maybe at a restaurant. To be able to see & hear the effect she had on so many children and/or their parents, was truly a gift of which I did not realize the extent of until now…and still, to this day, people will tell me of how she inspired them to teach, or to help others, but the comments are almost always the same in one way: very high and glowing praise for my Mom, and nothing but love and fond memories to share.
Her friends…I could honestly write a very long book on her many wonderful friends and colleagues I have had the pleasure of meeting over the years. It was not unusual during the holidays for my Mom to invite someone or a couple of her friends that maybe did not have family close by, or had no big plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We would often start out with 6 or 7, and then end up with 11, 12 or even 13 as we had at our dinner last Christmas. But that was what made her so special-not wanting anyone to be alone, or feel excluded any time, and especially during the holidays. I have heard the phrase about how you can judge a person’s character by the friends that they keep many times, and if that does apply to my Mom, then her character is definitely on another level. Her friends loved her deeply, and I will tell you she loved her friends just as much, if not more…
The largesse of her heart did not end with us humans, however, as she absolutely loved animals of all makes & models…I always say that if “it” has hooves, paws, or wings and comes through our yard, then she wanted to feed it. It would likely fill up another book if I were to try and speak of all the pets we have had over these many years, but suffice to say that you will never meet anyone more caring or compassionate when it comes to helping or saving any living creature…and that is just one quality that made it impossible not to love my Mom Peggy. And that is what made her so special-everyone she knew did love her, and that is something I will hold onto forever, and that is also something that will keep me going, as I will try my best to be the good son that she has raised. Along those lines, we will ask that if you are inclined to donate, please consider the Great Plains SPCA, as helping animals was obviously a great passion of hers. She also loved her church-Trinity Episcopal on the Independence square, and would be very pleased if you were inclined to make a donation to the church.
In closing, I will say I can never thank all of our friends enough, but I will certainly try to for the rest of time. One of the hardest things for us now was that she was really looking forward to Kristine & I getting married, and spoke often of the upcoming event. We do take great comfort that she was there to see us get engaged, and to share in the happiest moment of my life. My Mom will be missed tremendously, but we shall honor and cherish her memory and keep her close to our hearts until we have the opportunity to see her pretty blue eyes and smile again…