Margaret Dobbie

Peg Dobbie died on March 24 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack of metastasized breast cancer, five years after her first tumor was discovered. She was born on May 2, 1943 in Evanston, Illinois, the second of three children of James and Euphemia (Richards) Dobbie. In 1964, while an undergraduate at Brown University, Peg was a Freedom School Teacher in Madison County, MS during the Mississippi Freedom Summer. Her activities during the following academic year included participation in the Selma-Montgomery March. After graduation from Brown University in 1965, she was a field worker and community organizer in Alabama for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After the civil rights movement, she worked for the Neighborhood Youth Corps in Haverhill, MA, followed by a job at Northeastern University where she developed an interest in reading and its important role in childhood development. She soon became a teacher and, in the '70s, taught 4th grade in the Walpole (MA) Public Schools and at Union-Sanborn Elementary School in Northfield, NH. Her last year as a teacher was at the Middle School in Tilton where she taught 7th grade. She continued her career as a grassroots organizer when she went to work protecting a woman's right to choose. In 1981, when Peg was hired as Executive Director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League of New Hampshire (NARAL-NH), the organization she led for twenty years was small, but during her tenure, that number increased tenfold. More important, however, was the corps of dedicated volunteers she recruited to help her. Under Peg's leadership, NARAL-NH became one of the most effective grassroots political organizations in the state. She and her volunteers helped elect many pro-choice candidates, and during her tenure no anti-choice legislation passed the New Hampshire Legislature. Peg and her volunteers, working in conjunction with legislators and coalition partners, witnessed many successful campaigns. One of the most rewarding for Peg occurred on April 18, 1989 when both the House and the Senate passed a bill repealing three antiquated, 19th-Century, anti-abortion statues. That bill was almost immediately vetoed by Governor Judd Gregg. However, persistence paid off, and in 1997 a similar repeal bill was signed by Governor Jeanne Shaheen. Following Peg's retirement from NARAL-NH in 2001, she was the Choice Vote Coordinator for the Shaheen for Senate Campaign. For her efforts to protect a woman's reproductive freedom, she was honored by the Manchester YWCA (1987), the Tides Foundation of San Francisco (1992), the New Hampshire Family Planning Council (2000), and the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union (2001). For her work as an affiliate director, she received three awards from National NARAL of Washington, DC . She loved the outdoors and traveled extensively with her husband and companion of twenty-five years, Philip Preston. Whether on an extended river trip or a trek across the Brooks Range in Alaska, or the Andes of Chile and Venezuela, she was a woman who enjoyed remote adventures. In addition to her husband, Phil, she is survived by her father, James M. Dobbie of Yarmouthport, MA, a brother, Richard W. Dobbie of Hyannis, MA and nine nieces and nephews. A memorial service to celebrate Peg's life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 274 Pleasant Street, Concord at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 3. Donations honoring Peg may be made to the Peg Dobbie Grassroots Organizing Fund, payable to the NARAL-NH Foundation, 18 Low Avenue, Concord, NH 03301.