Margaret L. "Margi" Dempsey

Margi Dempsey died Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at her residence in Lexington, MA, from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. She was 92.

Born November 20, 1931, in Scranton, PA, the oldest daughter of Anna and Evan Edmunds, she graduated in 1949 from Central High School, Scranton. Four years later, she earned her BS in Music Education from Mansfield State Teacher’s College (now Mansfield University) where she met and was courted by fellow musician, Charles Edward “Chuck” Dempsey (1930-1980), of Clarks Summit, PA. They married on July 23, 1955.

Margi (with a “hard g”) as she preferred to be known, grew up in Pennsylvania coal country with her sister Barb and brother Bill Edmunds, and an extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Margi’s forbears came from England and Wales; her grandfather and great grandfather came from Wales to work in the mines, and her father followed suit. Margi took piano lessons from an early age, beginning her lifelong love of music

In the early years of her life with Chuck, Margi taught music in public schools and worked as a church organist in both PA and NJ. In 1970, they bought and renovated an old farmhouse on more than 20 acres in Alstead Center, NH, and promptly acquired a coop full of chickens and a few geese. In 1971, they repurposed space in their home and opened The Source, then the only natural foods store in the greater Keene, NH area. Margi taught music for several years in the Fall Mt. Regional school system, Langdon, NH and gave piano lessons. In the late ‘70’s, she and Chuck sold the farmhouse and built a post-and-beam saltbox on the back acreage of their land, in search of a lifestyle less dependent on the grid. Margi’s grandson, Alec Koumjian, spent many happy days and weeks there with her; he credits her with his lifelong passion for observing nature and living lightly on the planet.

During these years, Margi left teaching to follow her passion for books and information management. In Keene, NH, she worked at the Keene Public Library, served a short tenure in the admissions department at Cheshire Hospital, and then became the hospital’s medical librarian.

Following Chuck’s death in 1980, she relocated to Boston, MA to get her master’s degree in library science from Simmons College. She remained in Boston as Director of the Health Sciences Library at (then) Boston City Hospital, and was an active member of the National Association of Science Librarians and New England Regional Medical Library Association.

On her retirement, she returned to Alstead Center, NH, and after several years relocated to Keene, NH, where she worked in the library at Keene State College. Margi was always open to new locations, and followed her youngest daughter, Joan, to live first in Portland, and later Topsham, ME. Her final move was to Lexington, MA, to be near her daughter Susan and son-in-law Andrew Gouse.

Margi considered herself fortunate that her two careers included her passions for books and music. She loved to travel, at times in adventurous ways: windjammer trips up the New England coast, glacier hiking in Norway, random travel through the Portuguese countryside, and hiking Snowdonia in Wales with her grandson. She swam for exercise and friendship—she connected with someone special at each pool she used over the years. Another favorite was a daily walk to observe nature’s minute details and connect with her neighbors.

Margi loved exploring her Welsh roots by studying the language, reading about Wales and Welsh immigration to the United States and subscribing to Welsh-interest newspapers. She coupled her passion for music with the Welsh language when she made several tours with Côr Cymru Gogledd America—the North American Welsh Choir—with her daughter Barbara. She collected both beautiful and useful ceramics and original and print art and was a lifelong learner both formally and informally (her extensive home library revealed her affinity for poetry, natural history, Buddhism, women writers, health, medicine, and history). She sparkled in company and held friends close throughout her lifetime, staying connected with letters, phone calls, and visits when possible. Music was ever-present in Margi’s life; she played her cherished piano daily, around which family and friends often gathered to sing as she accompanied them. She sang professionally for many years with the Keene Chorale and Boston’s distinguished Chorus Pro Musica.

She is survived by her sister, Barbara Stolz, children Barbara Koumjian, Susan (Andrew Gouse) Dempsey, and Joan (Bert Troughton) Dempsey, grandson Alec (Elina) Koumjian and great grandsons, Leo and Roman, sister-in-law Harriet Edmunds, nieces Lise (Kent) Thorup and Holly (Chris) Dillon, nephews Christian (Diane) Stolz, Jonathan (Tara) Edmunds, and Matthew (Rocio) Edmunds. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Chuck, brother Bill Edmunds, and brother-in-law John Stolz.

A service will be held at a later date for family and close friends. Should you wish to honor Margi’s life, her daughters ask you to plant a tree or spend time with loved ones in memory of Margi’s love for family, friends, and nature:

“If you love me, if you love, love, love me,

Plant a rose for me.

And if you think you’ll love me for a long, long time,

Plant an apple tree.”

—Words & music by Malvina Reynolds, ©1974 Schroder Music Co., renewed 2002