Margaret Edna Brooks, known by those of us at the Granville Historical Society as “Maggie,” was a loyal, faithful and productive member of the Society for two and a half decades. She passed away peacefully on Aug. 14.
Maggie became a member of the Society’s Board of Managers in 1992 and was never idle. She served as board president for four years — 1998-2000 and 2002-2004, and in between spent two years as vice president. She retired from the board in 2013, but remained on the board as an emerita member, and missed very few meetings.
Among Maggie’s chief interests was her Welsh ancestry. She was active in the local Cambrian Society, which briefly became a part of the Granville Historical Society, and belonged to the Welsh Society of Central Ohio. She was also the Board of Managers Programs chair for a number of years and on more than one occasion arranged for Welsh-related programs including a St. David’s Day observance.
As an Ohio State University School of Journalism graduate and retiree of the Denison University Office of Public Affairs, Maggie’s abilities and expertise in the publications field were invaluable. She was a member of the Board’s Publications Committee and helped to establish the Society’s monthly Modern Times newsletter announcing current Society events. Thus far she has been the Modern Times’ ONLY editor. Maggie also edited the Society’s fourth “pocket history” book: By Means of Ink and Paper: The Civil War Correspondence of Edwin and Sarah Sinnett, which discussed the letters between Dr. Sinnett and his wife, Sarah, of Granville.
Outside of the Society, Maggie often volunteered at Dawes Arboretum for a number of years.
Maggie will be missed “north of the border” too. She was a big fan of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival held in Ontario and made annual pilgrimages there.
She also kept on top of timely updates of the Society’s brochures and had just completed a brochure entitled “A Walking Tour of Granville’s Broadway” for public consumption.
Maggie was a regular on Thursdays — the Society’s volunteer day — even after she moved from her longtime home in Newark to Columbus. During the Thursday lunches she could routinely be relied upon for views for discussion of current events and the best of the programing on our local PBS channel. She was last in the office barely a month before she became ill: a testament to her loyalty to the Society.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations in Maggie’s memory may be made to the Granville Historical Society or the Welsh Society of Central Ohio.
Maggie will be remembered in the Society along with a number of its pillars lost in recent years: Dr. Richard Mahard, Lawrence “Lance” Clarke and Florence Hoffman.
— Charles A. Peterson, President,
Granville Historical Society Board of Managers
