Every once in a while God sends a special spirit to grace our lives and to inspire us to be more than we thought possible. Margaret was this special essence, an essential part of all those who knew and loved her.
She came to us through her parents, Jesse K. and Mary Wheeler, on January 9, 1932, and joined a loving family of brothers and sisters: Mary Beth Benson, Lora Jeanne, Jesse, Don M., and Richard "Dick" Wheeler. Later, with her loving husband, Judge Regnal W. Garff, she blessed the lives of four devoted children and their families, Leslie and Curtis Hansen, Lisa and Robert Foster, Marianne and Michael Reed, Regnal and Lori Garff, who in turn shared with her twelve grandchildren.Loving care and unselfish service epitomized her life both within and outside of her family. At the University of Utah she was president of Alpha Chi Omega; then graduated and worked as a commercial artist for ZCMI until she started her family and became a full-time mother and homemaker. Still she took time to serve as PTA President, a member of Junior League, the Symphony Guild, and for many years chaired the area and neighborhood cancer drives. She made a notable contribution to the Primary Children's Medical Center, chairing the "Kids Giving for Kids" fund raising effort. She served her Church as Primary President, Relief Society President, five years as a member of the Primary General Board, and finally, as a hostess at the Church Office Building. She gave gracious and unselfish service to those who needed her, especially her own mother and mother-in-law during difficult illnesses.
Her body was overwhelmed by a fast, aggressive melanoma but her spirit is free to go onward and upward. With the sensitive and caring help of her doctors and nurses she passed peacefully away in the loving arms of her family on December 19, 1998.
Memorial services will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 1998, 12 noon, at the Monument Park 16th Ward, 1320 South Wasatch Drive, Salt Lake City. Friends may call one hour prior to service and also on Monday, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 East 1300 South. Interment, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, Margaret would be pleased if a contribution was made to Primary Children's Medical Center, 100 North Medical Drive, SLC, UT 84113, Attn: Foundation.
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