Margaret Beth Ward Wagstaff

Margaret Beth Ward Wagstaff was born on October 4, 1921 to Wilford Zundel and Ruby Boulton Ward in Riverside, Utah, their first child. She died, surrounded by loved ones, on September 29, 2016 in Logan, Utah. While still a child, Margaret’s family moved to Park City, Utah, where the family grew. Because her youngest brother couldn’t wrap his tongue around her full name, Margaret Beth, he called her “MarBeth”, the name her family and many of her contemporaries used throughout the rest of her life. Later, during the Great Depression, they moved to a farm in Cache Valley where she spent her childhood. The lessons she learned from farm life and from the austere depression era affected her through the rest of her life. After graduating from South Cache High School, she attended LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, and then went to work for the Utah State Tax Commission.
While living with her aunt in Sugarhouse, her leader in the Gleaners (a forerunner of the LDS Young Single Adults program) encouraged her to begin writing an army soldier serving in the Pacific theater. Out of this correspondence a relationship was built, and upon his release from the army after VJ Day, she finally met Lyle Wilson Wagstaff. They were married in the Salt Lake City temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 14, 1946, and her Gleaner’s leader became her sister-in-law. While Lyle pursued his education at the University of Utah and worked in his father’s home construction business, they began a family. They were blessed by the birth of three boys while living in Salt Lake City. After completing his Master’s degree, Lyle accepted a teaching position, and in 1956 they moved their family to Cokeville, Wyoming where Lyle taught high school English. Soon after moving to Cokeville, a fourth son joined the family.
The Cokeville years were full of the adventures that go with raising four boys. The small-town life suited the family well, and they enjoyed working together, camping and fishing, and huddling together in the cold Wyoming winters. Margaret became known as a good cook, and filled the pantry each fall with an assortment of canned fruit and frozen vegetables. Her Halloween popcorn was renowned in Cokeville, and later in Logan, with everyone wanting to know the “secret” (a dash of vinegar in the sugary syrup). She also blessed far-flung family each Christmas with a goody package filled with homemade candy, fruitcake, cookies, and a special block of crunchy caramel popcorn.
While in Cokeville, Lyle became increasingly burdened with health problems that limited his mobility. Margaret took on the extra workload with no complaint, typing his tests and even reading students’ English papers to Lyle when he had cataracts, marking the errors that he dictated. She became an excellent proofreader and typist as a result. As Lyle’s Rheumatoid Arthritis progressed, she would faithfully drive him to Logan every three weeks, sometimes in white-knuckle blizzard conditions, so he could receive treatments.
Lyle’s health worsened, and he passed away in 1972. Margaret still had one son at home, and she decided to stay in Cokeville so that he could have the advantages of the outstanding schools. She was hired as the clerk for the Town of Cokeville, and spent many years helping the citizens with bill payments and acting as a great listening ear when they would just want to stop by and gab. Children, some of them from her Sunday School nursery classes, remember going to the town library to pick up books and then going next door to the city hall where they would read to Margaret. Her door was always open to everyone, and many remember her service with great fondness.
Margaret was a founding member of the Cokeville EMT squad. She rode with and drove many patients to the distant hospital in the ambulance, as well as tending to them along the way. She was also one of the dispatchers, and the family remembers having the phone ring in the middle of the night and Mom having to dispatch help to wherever it was needed.
It was also during this time that Margaret had one of her most treasured experiences, acting as the scribe for Montpelier Stake Patriarch S. Reed Dayton. We don’t know the number of Patriarchal Blessings that she typed on her manual Olympia typewriter, but she felt very blessed to transcribe these sacred blessings for the youth of the stake as they started their adult lives.
In 1977, Margaret moved to Logan, Utah, and combined her household with her mother’s. The timing was fortunate, as her mother suffered a severe stroke shortly thereafter and had to move to a rest home. Margaret had vowed to her mother that she would not leave her alone in the rest home, and every day, regardless of weather, walked the two blocks to Sunshine Terrace to spend the evening with her mother. While possible, she also would bring her mother home on weekends for visits with the family and pets. There were never complaints, only an acknowledgement of the joy and duty of service.
In Logan, Margaret worked for Utah State University for a short time and then went to work for Hooker Appliance, working there until well after retirement age. She also served as a Logan Temple Worker during this time. She was the Ward Librarian for the Logan Third Ward for innumerable years, faithfully preparing the packets for each Sunday’s classes. After retiring (finally), Margaret filled her days with a seemingly endless number of hand-stitched quilts for family, both biological and informally adopted. She also treasured her time with her grandchildren, with them often playing under the enormous quilt frames that would fill her living room. One of the favorite toys, hand-built by Lyle, was a wooden marble-roller, which led to her nickname from many of the great-grandchildren, “Grandma Marbles.”
One of Margaret’s most amazing gifts was her way with animals. Animals, no matter how badly hurt they were, would trust her to tend to them when they would not let anyone else, even their owners, near. If Margaret was in the room, the rest of the family didn’t stand a chance with a pet; it would be at her feet or (more often) on her lap, even when it was a 100-pound Rottweiler! She instilled a love and respect for all animals into her family, and they all treasure her example in being kind to animals as well as their fellow man.
Margaret was fiercely independent and self-sufficient. She did not want to “bother” anyone else when she needed something, so she was a plumber, carpenter, electrician, upholsterer, mechanic, whatever was needed at the time. She cherished the time that she had her family around her, and loved having them gather in her home for holidays and special occasions.
Eventually, several strokes left Margaret unable to live on her own, at which point she moved to the Terrace Grove Assisted Living Center in Logan. There she was loved by the staff as one who was always kind and grateful, never complaining or demanding. Finally, the wear and tear of a life of service wore her body out, and she left this life, somewhat stubbornly, but without a lot of fuss, just as she would have wanted.
Margaret is survived by her sons: Wilford Eugene (Evelyn), Gunnison, Utah; Lyle Ward, Salt Lake City; James Lynn (Ellen), Wellsville; and Walter Reed (Edye), Kaysville. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, a sister-in-law, Afton Greenwood of Indiana, and numerous nieces and nephews and other extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Lyle, sister Alma Carol Mills, brothers Wilford Reed and James Moroni, and numerous furry companions who have felt her love over the years.
Funeral Services will be held at the Allen-Hall Mortuary at 34 East Center Street, Logan, at noon on Wednesday, October 5, 2016. A visitation will be held prior to the services beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the same location. Interment will be in the Logan City Cemetery.
The family expresses tremendous gratitude to the Terrace Grove and Sunshine Terrace Hospice Services staff members for the incredibly tender loving care that they gave not only to Margaret over the years, but to the whole family in her final days.