Obituary of Margaret York

Margaret Brown York (Marge), 82, passed away on December 19, 2022 at Greenwich Hospital, her daughter by her side, three weeks after the first emergence of pancreatic cancer symptoms. A resident of Old Greenwich, CT for 45 years before moving to Edgehill in Stamford, CT in 2012, Marge was born December 13, 1940 to Gordon Whipple Brown and Alice Wallace Brown of Evanston, IL. She graduated from high school in Chatham, NJ before earning her BA in Spanish from Colby College with minors in education and mathematics, and then receiving her Master’s Degree in Spanish from Middlebury College and the University of Madrid. Her teaching career spanned from the early 1960’s until retirement in 2004, from Middletown, NJ High School to the Greenwich School System (where she taught in the old high school building), to private teaching at home (Spanish, guitar, sailing--not at the same time) while parenting, and later to the classrooms of Stamford’s Wright Tech, Westhill, and Stamford High School. Her early focus was Spanish, and she later also found great satisfaction working with ESL students. Marge worshiped at the Presbyterian Church of Old Greenwich from 1972-1997, then at First Congregational Church of Old Greenwich (FCCOG), and was especially active in the choirs and bible study. Her ear and passion for music and harmonies were as strong as they were for languages, and she sang in the Grace Notes, Greenwich Choral Society, and Ogden Booker Chorale, and also in guitar duets with Helen Didriksen, performing their “musical service” extensively in nursing homes, parks, and community centers throughout the area. Known for her kindness, quick smile, sparkling humor, helping hands, positive attitude, and lifelong enthusiasm for ice cream, Marge also delighted in being on either end of a good leg pulling. She loved sharing stories, and her tales of travel in the 1960’s around Europe and throughout Latin America were crowd pleasers. She befriended speakers of Spanish wherever she found them, and--a teacher through and through--seized any opportunity for an impromptu language lesson. Friends and family will remember her high spirits surrounding her daughter’s recent wedding weekend, which she attended with exuberance and in good health. Marge is survived by her daughter, Sandra Allison York, and son-in-law, George Hoop Fairbanks; her brother, Gordon W. Brown, Jr. and his wife, Carolyn; her brother-in-law Hali H. Giessler, and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and her sisters, twins Helen Brown Kinoshta and Dorothy Brown Geissler. A memorial will be held later in the year at FCCOG. Donations may be made to FCCOG.org or SuccessForAll.org. Photo credit: Rohanna Mertens