Mary "Peggy" Reeder

Mary Margaret “Peggy” Reeder was born on May 26th, 1931, in Quincy MA. She died on May 13th, 2026, in Columbus OH. At the time of her death, she was a little old Irish lady, who looked more like a little old Irish man. She left behind four children, 15 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and a lot of stuff, including dozens of novelty coffee cups, a collection of wooden duck decoys, gallons of unopened laundry detergent, several finished hand-knit sweaters and one unfinished hand-knit sweater.

She was an exceptional mother and wife of 64 years to David Reeder, who passed in 2016. She was a mediocre keeper of pets although she had many over the years including a few three-legged cats and two turtles. She was a dangerous chef, often using the same cutting board for raw chicken and everything else.

She was a Paulist Catholic who spent over four decades running the baptism and Pre-Cana programs at the Thomas More Newman Center, where she also washed the altar linens and baked the Eucharist bread. She ran the swim program at her beloved Olympic Pool, coaching teams and teaching lessons for 47 years. Olympic is where she met Dave Reeder when she was 16 years old during Jive Night. They were sweethearts until his death. Peggy Reeder is the reason why everyone in Clintonville can swim.

She was a high school swimming and diving referee whose home away from home was a wet pool deck, taking some pleasure in disqualifying surly teenagers including her own. She spent summers in her rose garden fishing thorns out of her shins and loved her two weeks in August at the Outer Banks of NC, where she was the undefeated champion of the ugliest feet competition. By September, her skin was like fine, hand-tooled leather.

She loved a Burger King whopper, an ice-cold chardonnay and stale Easter Peeps. She walked with her head down and was prone to getting tangled in low hanging tree branches and spiderwebs. She liked to sing in the car but was not a good singer and was partial to Carol King, Gordon Lightfoot and Willie Nelson…right now, she is likely belting out On the Road Again without restraint or pitch, while her father Gunny (d.1988), her mother Rita (d.1992), her brother Paul (d.2011), her husband Dave (d. 2016) and her son Kevin (d. 2021) cover their ears.

She was well read and a wordsmith who none-the-less consistently referred to friends, family and famous people as “ole what’s his face.” She may or may not have coined the phrase, “40 miles of bad road.” She was a people person, curious and often overly friendly…talking with strangers in the line at the bank or the grocery store or in the middle of Arden Road. She has passed this endearing trait along to all her children.

She cared deeply about everyone she met…almost everyone, and she wanted the best for those she did not know at all. For instance, she attended many Columbus Pride parades with a sign that said, “God Loves Gays.” A poster on her house read “Immigrants are Welcome Here.” She brought homemade casseroles to the sick and in need but encouraged them to eat at their own risk. Like every high functioning Gemini, she could also be cantankerous, promising more than a few friends that she would wear a red dress to their funeral. Peggy should be remembered as looking like Elizabeth Taylor on her best day, as she requested in writing. She died just short of 95 years old, leaving a deep imprint. The world is certainly less interesting without her.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ohio State School for the Blind Foundation, https://www.ossbfoundation.org Donations will be used to support their aquatic programs.