Shelter Island Reporter obituary: Margaret (Peggy) Pettibone
Margaret (Peggy) Pettibone, 80, of Jupiter, Fla., New Canaan, Conn., and formerly Shelter Island, peacefully passed away on March 10, 2023.
She was born in Indianapolis to Bob and Edna Johnson and was sister to Robert E. Johnson. Peggy grew up in Springfield, Pa. and summered with her family in Avalon, N.J.
Peggy graduated from the University of Miami and returned to Philadelphia where she married Tom Pettibone and worked for INA. Subsequently they moved to Birmingham Mich., Ridgewood, N.J., and eventually New Canaan, where they raised their children, Elizabeth and David.
In Michigan, Peggy worked for Holy Cross Hospital in human resources and attended Christ Church Cranbrook. She loved sailing and competitively raced on Watkins Lake.
When they moved to Ridgewood, N.J. in 1977, Peggy worked for Merrill Drug Co., joined the Junior League, and attended St. Elizabeth’s Church. Peggy was a member of the New York Amateur Ski Club and skied in Vermont and the West.
In 1982, the family settled in New Canaan where Peggy became a PC instructor. She was a member of the Junior League, board member of “A Better Chance,” and attended St. Mark’s Church.
She loved golf and was a member of the Country Club of New Canaan and the Norwalk Yacht Club. The family sailed the northeast in their sailboat Arbitrage and chartered in the Caribbean.
They continued skiing in the winter and for over 15 years, summered on Shelter Island. Peggy was an active member of the Gardiner’s Bay Country Club and the Shelter Island Yacht Club, where the children learned to sail and eventually became instructors.
In 2003, Peggy and Tom moved to Jupiter, Fla. and summered in Connecticut. In the winter, Peggy played golf at Jonathan’s Landing and cruised south Florida and the Keys in their powerboat Gypsy Girl. In the summer she played golf at their home on the Silvermine Golf Club and doted on her grandchildren. They attended Christ Memorial Chapel, Jupiter Island, Fla. and St. Mark’s Church in New Canaan.
Peggy loved trading on the stock market and traveling. Over the years they visited China, Tibet, Europe, U.K., Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, Hawaii, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and the Western U.S.
Peggy is survived by her husband Tom, their children, Elizabeth DeFilippo of Bedford N.Y., and David Pettibone of Norwalk, Conn., their grandchildren Ryan and Ali DeFilippo, and several nieces and nephews and their families.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Mark’s Church (stmarksnewcanaan.org), Christ Memorial Chapel (christmemorialchapel.org), or Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (alzdiscovery.org).
The family wishes to thank everyone for their kind notes, sentiments and donations.
There will be a Memorial Service at 11 a.m. on June 3, 2023 at St. Mark’s Church, 111 Oenoke Ridge Road, New Canaan, Conn.
It will be followed by a reception at the Country Club of New Canaan, 95 Country Club Road.
