Margaret Joslyn

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Margaret Bernice "Peggy" Gallup Joslyn, 98, died Saturday, July 3, 2010, at her home in Charleston.

She was born Dec. 13, 1911, in Waterloo, Iowa, to William Wallace and Lottie Bernice Moody Gallup.

In 1930 she graduated as co-valedictorian from West Waterloo High School. She attended Stephens College, a junior college for women, in Columbia, Mo., where she received an associate of arts degree in 1932. She won a scholarship to Mills College, a four-year women's college in Oakland, Calif., earning a bachelor of arts degree in music in 1934.

A year later, in the depths of the Great Depression, she accepted a $90-a-month position as primary school music teacher in Morehouse, Mo.

In the fall of 1936 she was introduced to Lewis Danforth Joslyn, a young attorney and member of the Missouri State Legislature. On Valentine's Day the following year, they were married in Waterloo. From that time until her death, she made her home in Charleston.

A son, Wallace Danforth Joslyn, was born April 13, 1939, followed by a daughter, Ann Lese Joslyn, Nov. 4, 1942. In 1946, Peggy Joslyn, Dr. Geneva Drinkwater and Vera Simpson worked together to establish a tax-supported public library. Early in 1948 the Mississippi County (Danforth) Library opened in Charleston. During the same period, she played first violin in the Southeast Missouri State College Orchestra in Cape Girardeau.

For many years, Peggy Joslyn was active in the Katherine Boone Music Club, PEO Chapter CV, Molly French Garden Club and First Christian Church, and later the United Methodist Church.

Following her husband's death in 1980, Mrs. Joslyn assumed an active role in the management of the family farming operation and traveled extensively throughout the world.

She was preceded in death by her younger sister, Helen Eileen Gallup Parrish (1916-1997).

Survivors include a son, Dan and his wife Moreen Joslyn of Tulsa, Okla., and their two children Jonathan David Joslyn of Denver, Colo., and Sarah Analisa Joslyn of Tulsa; a daughter, Lese Joslyn and husband William Hunt Edgar of Chevy Chase, Md., and their daughter, Victoria Lese Joslyn-Edgar of Rockville, Md.

A memorial service will be held at a later date with the assistance of McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

Contributions in Peggy Joslyn's memory may be given to Mississippi County Library, 105 E. Marshall St., Charleston, MO 63834.

Online condolences may be shared at www.mcmiklefuneralhome.com.