Margaret Mixon Van Meter

MARGARET MIXON VAN METER TRIPLETT, 97, died Thursday at the home of her daughter, Janet Hill, in Russellville. She was the eldest of three daughters born to Fredrick Franklin and Laura Ozella Walker Mixon of Lee and Phillips Counties. She was predeceased by her children's father, Ike Van Meter of Marvell, her second husband Garland Triplett of Marianna; and a sister, Alice Verell Shell of Dardanelle. She is survived by four daughters, Laura Lee Rogers Tinkle and her husband James of Russellville, Shirley Freeman and Harvey Server of Key West, Florida, Janet Hill of Russellville, Hope and Lynn Hallum of Franklin, Tennessee and her son, Ike Mixon Van Meter of Marietta, Georgia. She also leaves nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren; and her surviving sister, Annie Laura Jaggers-Grady of Dardanelle. A long time resident of both Marvell and Marianna, she was involved in a multitude of civic, church, educational, artistic and philanthropic endeavors which gave others as well as herself much pleasure throughout her life. Margaret was a perennial student who loved learning and teaching. She skipped two grades at the Woodruff School in West Helena and at 15 years of age went directly to college (Arkansas State University) from which she was awarded a teaching certificate after two years of study. At the age of 18 she began teaching in Rondo, a small community in Lee County. One of the great pleasures of her last years in Marianna was her Episcopal Church Study Group which met faithfully on Wednesdays. A talented musician, she was the church pianist at First Baptist Church in Barton at age 10. She taught piano and organ, usually without charge, to deserving students throughout her life. Well into her 90's she gave up her last piano student when she moved to the Wildflower Retirement Home in Russellville in 2004. A selfless giver of both her time and resources to the promotion of the arts, she underwrote several Warfield Foundation concerts (the Lily Peter Auditorium in Helena), notably the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Boy's Choir, as well as commissioned several noted choirs and stringed ensembles. She was an ardent supporter of The Nature Conservancy and Habitat for Humanity. Even though she was a devoted member of the Episcopal Church in Marianna, in which she was confirmed in 2001, she played the organ twice a month at the Marianna Presbyterian Church and entertained the Methodist at their annual soup and pie luncheon. A seasoned traveler, she made repeated visits to the Holy Land, toured both the Scandinavian and United Kingdom countries, and spent time in Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. She took the Atlantic cruise to Alaska several times and vacationed in several Central and South American countries over the years. Her last and most memorable trip was a train trip across Canada in 1995 with her friends, Richard and Carol Allen of Little Rock. Services will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of Marianna, 10 a.m., Monday, October 8, after which a reception will be hosted by the ladies of St. Andrew's and First Presbyterian churches. Interment in the Marvell Cemetery will follow shortly afterward by Bob Neal & Sons Brickell Funeral Home of Marvell. Memorials may be given to a church or charity of choice. You may sign our online guestbook at: www.bobnealandsons.com

From: The Commercial Appeal - Memphis, Tennessee.  October 7, 2007.

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