Tributes

Margaretta Lou Tranger Walton died peacefully at home on May 8, 2023. Born on June 12, 1945, Margie grew up in Haverford, PA, spending her summers in Metedeconk, NJ. She graduated from The Baldwin School in 1963, and went on to attend Columbia College in Columbia, SC. At both schools she was very involved in theater production, sound engineering, stage lighting and stage management. She also became an excellent writer, voracious reader, proficient in French, and decent gin rummy player. As her high school gym teacher once shared, she was “very good at organizing.” After managing a pediatricians’ office for 30 years, Margie went on to do bookkeeping and financial work in people’s homes. She jokingly called herself a financial wife. She loved to find that missing penny or sort out how to calculate and record complicated stock splits across investment portfolios. During her marriage to Thomas E. Walton, she developed her love of Maine. Spending a few weeks there each summer with the Walton family, and then almost every year for the rest of her life. She particularly loved Damariscotta Lake, sharing a cabin with dear friends and her daughter was always a highlight of the summer. She continued to be close to the Waltons, spending holidays and family celebrations with them throughout the years. Margie was a nature lover, a “noticer” of things like a beautiful bird, a wildflower, a cloud that looked like a giant or an interesting rock formation. She was interested in art and music. She loved her birthday (and any other reason to celebrate), reveled in spending time with her extended Tranger family, coveted a good glass of chardonnay or a dark and stormy, never passed up dinner out, always saved room for dessert and boy could she cut a rug. You never had to ask her twice if she wanted to dance. Some of the greatest joys in her life came through her numerous friends, both near and far. Margie looked forward to Book Group regardless of whether she had liked the book or even read it. It was an opportunity to spend time with friends and have interesting conversation. Weekends were for coffee meetups at the local café. And, rarely a week went by that she did not see her group of friends affectionately dubbed The Hens. They discussed their gardens, shared updates on their children, and sorted through the troubles of the world big and small, always over a glass of wine, or two, or three. Margie was a 50-year member of the Main Line Committee for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Over the years, she took on tasks and projects from chairing fundraising campaigns to being on the committee for the first Philadelphia Orchestra opening night gala. As a parent of a Baldwin student, she was a devoted volunteer on the Parents’ Association, and then again on the Alumnae Board. Additionally, she was a near-life-long member of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society. Margie is survived by her daughter, Margaretta England Walton (Christina); siblings W. David Tranger (Patricia), Randall Tranger (Kathryn), Linda Bottoms (Stephen); numerous nieces and nephews as well as great-nieces and -nephews; and her grand-dog, Winston and grand-cat, Kitty (sorry, Mom). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Margie Walton’s memory to The Philadelphia Orchestra www.philorch.com/donate or The Natural Lands Trust www.natlands.org/support/commemorative-gifts/

Tributes

Margaretta Lou Tranger Walton

June 12, 1945 - May 8, 2023