Margaret Wold Armstrong died May 3, 2011 at Harborview Medical Center following a fall at home on April 28. She was alert and oriented up until the last 20 minutes of her life. Her death was exceptionally peaceful and beautiful. She was always a lover of Jesus. She spent much time, especially in the last two days, looking at a picture of Jesus and Psalm 23 on the back of the card.

She was born Nov. 27, 1916 in Pasadena, Calif., the daughter of Leta Thompson Wold and Albert S. Wold. She had an older brother, Lester who died in l972.

Her education was in private schools in Pasadena and at UC-Berkeley. She was married to Foster Markolf from l939 to l954, and to Breckinridge Armstrong from 1954 to 1959.

In 1959, she started a career in arts administration for the incipient Arts and Lectures program at UC-Santa Barbara, which started with a program budget of $5,000 and at the time of her retirement as manager, 21 years later, had a budget of half a million and was the third largest program in the UC system.

She was a founding member of the Western Alliance of the National Association of College and University Concert Managers and a founding member of the Santa Barbara Arts Council.

After her retirement, she served on the board of the Santa Barbara League of Women Voters and the board of the Carpinteria Valley Association. She also did volunteer work for the Altrusa Club and the Braille Institute in Santa Barbara She took a number of adult education classes in the arts, literature and creative writing.

In 1989, she moved to Whidbey Island where she designed and built a beautiful home in Clinton.

In addition, since living on the island she has served as a volunteer driver for Senior Services of Island County, and as a member of the Friends of the Langley Library and Friends of the Clinton Library.

She was also always involved in creative endeavors including playing the piano, poetry, leather work, watercolor painting, drawing, pottery and lapidary. Her homes and gardens were an esthetic work in progress. She loved working in the yard, nature and animals.

She was an avid reader — self taught in many subjects. She was also an avid donator to many organizations. She was a loving, kind, generous person to her family and friends and will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her son, Foster Albert (Rosa) Markolf, of Carpinteria, Calif.; her daughter, Martha (Steve) Aubin of Clinton; and three grandchildren Derek (Kathy) Markolf, Carley (Scott) Kennedy, and Meara Aubin, all of California; and by a great-granddaughter Emma Markolf. She is also survived by her niece Kathryn Wold (Hal) Bean of Arlington, Va. and her nephew Dr. Richard Thompson (Lucy) Wold of Oceanside, Calif.

The family would like to thank her 24-hour caregivers who lovingly cared for her during this past year, the nurses and hospice team, as well as supportive friends in the community.

In honor of Margaret’s memory, donations may be made to Whidbey General Hospital Home Care and Hospice or any organization of your choosing.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date and announced in the paper.