Margaret "Peggy" Sanna

Madison, WI – Margaret (Peggy) McGee Sanna passed away peacefully at her home at Capitol Lakes on Friday at the age of 95. Daughter of Irish immigrants, James McGee and Mary McKenna McGee of Portsmouth, NH, Peggy was proud of her Irish heritage as well as her New England roots, as she kept her Portsmouth accent all her life.

Leading up to and during WWII, Peggy served as secretary to the Planning Officer of Planning & Estimation at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. There she met Charles Sanna, a young naval officer and engineer, who arrived in Portsmouth in 1942. Charles said that as soon as he saw her, he knew Peggy was the one he would marry. They married in January 1946, when Charles returned from duty in the Pacific Theater, and celebrated their 73rd anniversary in 2019.

Peggy and Charles moved to Menomonie, WI, in 1946, where Charles joined the family business, Sanna Dairy Engineers. They relocated to Madison in 1964. In 2012, Peggy and Charles moved to an independent-living condo at Capital Lakes in Madison where they lived until their passing, Charles at 101 in 2019, and now Peggy in her mid-90s.

Devoted wife and mother of five, Peggy dedicated herself to her family. She either led or participated in numerous church and school activities where her children attended – St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Menomonie, and later, St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary School in Madison. Beginning when each of her children was in preschool, Peggy hosted large birthday parties, often inviting her son’s or daughter’s entire class. She made costumes for school pageants, matching dresses for her three daughters, knitted wool sweaters for all the children, and chaperoned school events. She served as both Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader, probably the only leader to teach her Girl Scout troop how to do the Irish jig.

While living in Menomonie, Charles and Peggy built a cottage on Tainter Lake in Colfax, WI, where they moved the family for summers. This allowed Peggy to care for the young ones while serving as lifeguard for the older ones, who spent their days in the water. Once the children were on their own, Peggy and Charles lived three months of the year in Naples, FL, where family was always welcome.

With her outgoing personality, keen organizational skills, and sense of community, Peggy led an active social life. A crackerjack bridge player, she started the ladies’ duplicate bridge group at Maple Bluff Country Club, and over the years, she led and participated in a number of other bridge groups. She taught her children how to play and continued to play a winning game of bridge into her final years. She also did volunteer work for the March of Dimes and, later, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison.

Peggy enjoyed weekly games of golf with her woman’s group as well as couples golf with Charles and their friends. She was instrumental in planning the annual Madison Women City Golf Tournament, and she made sure her children learned to golf as well.

Among her many interests, Peggy loved to dance. She taught Charles to dance to the big band music back in the 1940s, and later, she gave her children ballroom dance lessons in the living room. They now imagine their mother and father dancing together among the stars.

Special thanks to Mom’s incredible caregivers that allowed her to stay in her home for her final years; Denise Heim, Dana Ames, Pam Cunniff, Lois Losenegger, and Wendy Goist-Jones.

Peggy is survived by four children: Lucy Sanna, Mary James (Eric), Michael (Pam) Sanna, John (Pat) Sanna; five grandchildren: Katherine Frisch, Charles (Megan) Sanna, Thomas Sanna, Margaret Sanna, and Marcus Sanna; and three great-grandchildren, Charles, Grace, and Sloan Sanna.

She is preceded in death by her daughter, Charlene Sanna; husband, Charles Sanna; and siblings, Katherine McGee Caswell, Mary McGee Metzger, John McGee, and Anna McGee Johnson.

A Celebration of Life will be planned once people are able to move freely again without danger of COVID-19.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to “The Charles and Peggy Sanna Endowment Fund,” through the Madison Community Foundation, 111 N. Fairchild St., Suite 260, Madison, WI 53703. Please share memories.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Services

3610 Speedway Road

(608) 238-3434