Obituary: Margaret Brewer Stevens – Portland Press Herald

Margaret Brewer Stevens

YARMOUTH – Maggie was the child of Jean and Charles Brewer and grew up in the Fairfield Connecticut area. Off she went to Skidmore College where she majored in Business Administration – remaining a loyal Alumna to this day and still serving as an agent for the class of 1954. Upon graduation she took the iconic European trip before beginning a short-lived career in the business office of Time Inc.

Short-lived because her future husband, Stacy Stevens, needed help in paying for graduate school. Two years of living on Beacon Hill and working at Harvard placed a cap on her pre “real-life” world.

Then it was off to New York City before eventually settling in Chappaqua, N.Y. where the couple raised their two children, Holly and Matt. Maggie was a stay-at-home mom in the beginning, but supplemented that with projects for the Junior League of Northern Westchester, endless games of tennis at Birchwood and yeoman service as Deacon, Sunday School Teacher, Co-President of the Couples Club and mentor to the Youth Fellowship Group at the Congregational Church. Later she served as a teacher’s aide in the public school system and worked at the Chappaqua Library. As the children aged, she took on even more responsibility by working for a variety of Chappaqua retailers, handling portions of their financial functions.

During the last five years of her 30 years in Chappaqua, she served as Owner, President and Manager of the Village Bottle Shop – “The place to go when your spirits are low.” This enterprise was the result of a surprise! 50th Birthday present from her husband. It was here that she learned to love wine but hate retailing. She forgave Stacy and off they went to retirement in Maine; she brought him along.

During her Maine lifetime she kept herself busy with tennis at the Woodlands, gardening (St, Mary’s Garden Club) skiing from their ski house in Vermont, bridge with the Blueberry Cove ladies, crossword puzzles, reading and lots of traveling. She loved to travel, visiting six of the seven continents (Antarctica was too cold). She made over 20 trips to Paris in the 1990’s alone.

In the midst of all this frenetic activity she never neglected her family and insisted upon cooking all the meals, doing all the laundry (filling the magic drawers), cleaning the house on hands and knees every week until her late eighties. Last summer she was on the roof washing the outside of the windows. She would have put the energizer bunny to shame.

Maggie will be remembered for her quirky sense of humor, her fierce loyalty, her inability to tell a lie (not even a little white one) her inexhaustible energy, her smarts, her ability to converse with anyone or anything (she could sustain an in-depth conversation with a mail-box) and finally, her insatiable curiosity.

She had a puzzling affinity for cows and babies of all species. Her six grandsons were both a concern and a consolation. But no matter what, she always chose to seek the best in every single person.

Considering the conduct of life to be a privilege, like viewing a remote lake, explains why Maggie unfailingly dove into the deep end of all things. Her death at Gosnell Memorial House on April 8, 2022 placed an equally deep hole in many hearts.

Goodnight, my angel. Time to close your eyes.

Guest Book


link