Skelton, Margaret Groseclose

Margaret Groseclose (Peggy) Skelton, 79, of Blacksburg, Va., died on Monday, July 19, 2010. She was the widow of William (Bill) Epes Skelton, who retired as Dean Emeritus of Virginia Cooperative Extension and served as President of Rotary International from 1983 to 1984. Peggy and Bill Skelton worked tirelessly first as employees for Virginia Tech and then as a team, making extraordinary contributions of their time and talents to Virginia Tech, Rotary International, and the Blacksburg community all of which she considered family. Peggy was born in Marion, Va., on November 16, 1930. She was the daughter of the late Roy Eugene Groseclose and Thelma Robinson Groseclose. She earned her bachelor’s of science degree from James Madison University, received her master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, and took additional graduate courses at Virginia Tech. Peggy came to Virginia Tech in 1956 and became extension specialist in clothing in 1960. She was named assistant director in 1970 and director in 1973 of the Extension Family Resource Program in the College of Home Economics [now part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences]. She worked with state agencies to develop programs in low income housing, nutrition education, employment skills and consumer and health education. Peggy Skelton was a member of Virginia Tech’s President’s Circle of the Ut Prosim Society and was an Athletic Silver Benefactor. Through her generosity, Peggy funded several scholarships in intercollegiate athletics, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. In 2001, her long service and generosity were honored by the university through the naming of the new Skelton Conference Center in honor of Peggy and her husband, Bill. They enjoyed entertaining friends from around the world in their homes in Blacksburg and on Claytor Lake. Peggy Skelton has served in numerous organizations, including Zeta Tau Alpha, the Virginia Extension Service Association, the American and Virginia Home Economics Associations, Epsilon Sigma Phi, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Virginia 4-H All Stars. Peggy has also served as a member of the Virginia Tech Foundation Board of Directors and on the Steering Committee for the Campaign for Virginia Tech. The family would like to thank Peggy’s four caregivers, Traci Burke, Lee Shumate, Jeanny Carter and Lori Roop (“The Girls,”), for their constant love, support and care over the past three years. She is survived by her stepchildren, John K. Skelton, of Blacksburg, and Jean Skelton Montague and her husband, John W. Montague Jr., of Midlothian, Va. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 22, 2010, at McCoy Funeral Home. The funeral will be held 2 p.m. on Friday, July 23, 2010, at Blacksburg Baptist Church. A reception will follow the funeral service in the church’s fellowship hall. Burial will be held 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 24, 2010, in Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Marion, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the W.E. Skelton Endowed Ambassadorial Scholarship of Rotary International or Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church in Marion, Va. The Rotary donations may be made payable to The Rotary Foundation and sent c/o Henry Nickels, P.O. Box 347, Tazewell, Va. 24651. The church donations may be made payable to Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church, c/o Bill Sword, 152 Fortner Ave., Marion, Va. 24354.