Margaret “Peggy” Swikart Lyford, 91, of Belmont, California, passed away peacefully Dec. 27, 2019 after a short stay in hospice on the water in San Mateo, California.
Peggy was born Sept. 21, 1928 in Bronxville, New York. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in physical sciences. After graduation she moved back to New York City where she worked in promotions and marketing at Fortune Magazine, Chemical Week and McGraw Hill. While there she also took courses at NYU toward an MBA. New York was also where she nurtured her lifetime love of opera and ballet.
She then met and married Martin Lyford. They moved to Rumson where they raised three children. She was divorced after a long marriage and a few years ago moved to Belmont to be closer to her eldest son, her beloved daughter-in-law and her youngest grandchildren in her final years of life.
Peggy loved cooking, gardening, traveling and learning new languages. She traveled extensively around the world. In the last months of her life she flew solo from Belmont to Rumson. For many years she sang in the choir at St. George’s-by-the-River in Rumson and volunteered with Clean Ocean Action. She was involved in many civic organizations such as the English-Speaking Union and the American Society of University Women. For many years she was on the board of Rumson’s Oceanic Library and volunteered for many years at the Canterbury Fair at St. George’s. She worked at the Monmouth Arts Center and was a columnist for the Sunday Real Estate section of the Register. She also wrote articles about cooking and travel.
She loved her children and visited her grandchildren regularly, even though they lived in Massachusetts, Texas and California. She was an active woman who read widely, took aerobics classes and played tennis. She continued doing pool aerobics late in into her life.
Peggy is survived by her three children, Avery Lyford of Belmont, California, Conrad Lyford of Lubbock, Texas and Alison (Lyford) Montemurro of Westford, Massachusetts and eight grandchildren.
The article originally appeared in the January 7 – 13, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
