Margaret Ellen "Maggie" Anderson, 78
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Margaret Ellen "Maggie" Anderson, née Meacham, of 20 Haley Street in Williamstown died peacefully on Oct. 26, 2023 in Olympia Washington, home of her daughter Lucky.
Maggie was born in Eldorado, IL, to Laura Ellen and Paul Lincoln Meacham on Oct. 4, 1945. She grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia and lived at various times in New York City, Cape Charles Virginia, Williamstown, and rural Arizona. After graduating from high school in Havertown, PA, she moved to New York to attend the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. Her career as a secretary was interrupted by her marriage to Dale Roy Anderson, a Williams College classmate of her brother Bill, on January 27, 1968. The two had three daughters together before separating amicably. Anderson remained a close friend until his death in 2021.
In Williamstown and North Adams Maggie worked as a teachers' aide specializing in children with special needs. She was known for her sardonic wit, compassion, generosity and no-BS attitude towards life. Once her children were out of college, Maggie pursued her lifelong love of "My America" living some of the year in her van as she criss-crossed the country several times. No roadside sign passed unread - her spirit for exploration a marvel to friends and family at home.
She is survived by her daughters, Ariel Moore, Laura "Lucky" Anderson, and Caroline "Chicky" Huy, as well as her brother Bill Meacham and nine grandchildren. She knew months before the actual event that her death was imminent and was at peace with it, having lived a full and satisfying life and happy to have left behind a family rich in accomplishments and love. We will all miss her.
