Mary Margaret ‘Peggy’ Houck

Mary Margaret “Peggy” Houck, 97, passed away peacefully Oct. 25, 2019, at Cottesmore of Life Care in Gig Harbor.

Born in Seattle on Sept. 20, 1922, Peggy spent most of her life on Bainbridge Island. She and her two sisters were children of Ava and Jacob Book. Her father was superintendent of West Coast Wood Preservation Company. They lived in the company town of Creosote at the entrance to Eagle Harbor and later moved to the Head of the Bay.

Peggy met her future husband, James Houck, while he was a Marine guard for Navy Radio Station Bainbridge Island at Fort Ward. She moved to Oceanside, Calif., and worked while Jim served in the Pacific during World War II. Upon his return, they wed in Oceanside, Dec. 8, 1944.

Peggy and Jim returned to Bainbridge and raised their children: Stephen, Barbara, Margaret, and Kevin. While raising her family, she held a succession of jobs including work at Bainbridge Gardens, at Winslow’s strawberry processing plant, and selling Avon products. She owned Hugo’s, a Poulsbo shoe store, in the 1960s. At home, cooking, baking and canning were her specialties.

Peggy was a lifelong member of Eagle Harbor Congregational Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, sisters Betty (Moore) and Florence (Chananu), son Stephen and daughter Barbara Blymyer. She is survived by daughter Margaret Wilder, Silverdale; son Kevin, Gig Harbor; eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of her life will be held at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30.