Margaret Grace Kangas

SALEM, Ore. - Margaret (Trudgeon) Kangas, 84, passed away Dec. 29, 2015, from pneumonia.

Margaret once called herself a "putterist." "That's what I do; I putter," she said. In truth, she anticipated and took care of all the little details that came with supporting others.

In addition to being a loved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Margaret had been a long-time school secretary, an early member of Trinity Covenant Church, a hospital volunteer and a career Navy officer's spouse.

Whether she was directing the frequent cross-country moves of her military family, making each new location home, or mastering new skills as she encouraged her children to do the same, Margaret drew on her faith and provided the fun and support her family needed to succeed in life.

Margaret was born May 18, 1931, to Frank and Laura (Trethewey) Trudgeon in the Upper Peninsula mining town of Ironwood, Mich. She and her older brother, David, grew up surrounded by an extended family that included her father's many brothers, her maternal grandparents and her mother's four sisters.

The Trethewey family had emigrated from Cornwall in 1914. From her mother and Trethewey aunts, Margaret learned to sew, paint ceramics, keep a proper house and bake. Years later her Cornish pasties - crescent-shaped meat and potato pies that were historically lunch staples for Cornish miners - became one of our family's treasured meals.

After graduating from Ironwood High School and working in the district office of the local mining company, Margaret met and married a Navy man, John R. Kangas, from nearby Wakefield, Mich. Over time, their family grew to include three children (John, Karen, and David) and they followed John Sr.'s career in the Seabees to military bases in Wisconsin, Kansas, Alaska, California (twice), Illinois (twice) and Rhode Island.

John was often overseas months at a time, so Margaret, who had lived with her parents until she was married, became resourceful and independent. John taught her to drive. She went into labor with her first child while her husband rushed to get leave from his ship. She took cake-decorating classes, worked at the nursery and waited out a search expedition for her husband in Adak, Alaska.

And with a stiff upper lip and a prayer in 1962, she sent the kids to school while her husband was deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Each time her husband returned from deployment, she managed to transfer the reins of fatherhood back to him.

When John retired from the Navy in 1969, the family laid down roots in Salem, buying their first (and only) house and joining Trinity Covenant Church. There Margaret helped run the new church's office, taught Sunday school, volunteered in the nursery and joined Bible study. She and John rarely missed a Sunday service.

Margaret went to work for Salem-Keizer School District, starting as a part-time aide and eventually becoming school secretary at Middle Grove Elementary School. She still loved the kids and the job when she retired in 1995.

With retirement, Margaret began volunteering in the gift shop of Salem Hospital and was very active in the lives of her six grandchildren. She blended her love of the grandchildren with her other past-times and often sewed for the girls, monitored the gift shop Beanie Baby inventory for the grandkids' collections, served as babysitter and chauffer and had ready a pan of frosted brownies for after-school visitors.

Margaret also traveled with her husband, John. For eight years she joined him in Yellowstone each summer, where he worked for the National Park Service and took wildlife photos in his free time. Later, she joined him at his booth at Salem's Saturday Market, where he sold his pictures and hand-made wooden clocks. In between, they traveled to the Oregon coast, California, Arizona and Michigan in their motor home.

Margaret is survived by her husband of 61 years, John R. Kangas, and children, John (wife Kathy, daughter Amelia), Karen McGlone (husband Ed, children Edward and Elise), and Dave (wife Elaine, children Jesse, Hannah, Noelle and Joel).