Margaret Stroud

Margaret Jane Coleman Stroud

Madison: Margaret Jane Coleman Stroud, age 101, passed away quietly and with grace September 19, 2018 in her home in Madison, Wisconsin. She was born in Akron, Ohio in 1917, the daughter of Robert and Angelina Coleman.

Margaret grew up in Akron, Ohio, spending summers with her family at her beloved Turkeyfoot Lake, where she met and was influenced by early aviators that included balloonist Frank S. Lahm and such notables as Orville Wright and Amelia Earhart. It may have been from these early exchanges that she developed one of the driving forces of her life: a deep sense of curiosity and appreciation about the world and other cultures.

She attended Duke University and graduated from the University of Wisconsin as a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, which she later advised. In 1943, she met and married Seward Stroud, an army officer who served first in the Pacific Theater and then in Washington D.C. in intelligence under General George Marshall. Margaret took these early moves in stride, memorably turning hardships experienced during the war into stories of adventures.

Following the war, she and Seward settled into life in Madison, where he joined his father's law practice and she devoted herself to giving back to the community while raising five children. Her civic activities included 50-plus years with Attic Angels, Meals on Wheels, Civics Club, United Way, and volunteering at Wisconsin Public Radio. She was consistently active and pursued a wide variety of interests, including tennis, figure skating and ice dancing. She was a member of a book club that continued for over 50 years, knitting club, sewing club, and bridge club. She famously did not like to cook, yet her dinner table was often frequented by foreign guests or neighborhood children. She welcomed all with the same grace and kindness that characterized her to her final days.

Margaret and Seward spent summers investing in their family, embarking on camping and boating trips that seemed always to include a minor mishap that could be memorialized in one of her distinctive stories. They boated frequently on Sundays to Madison's Picnic Point, meeting other families for adventures beside the lake. As grandchildren and great-grandchildren joined the family, this tradition carried on to weekly Sunday cookouts spent at their lakeside home in Maple Bluff.

Margaret never lost her sense of curiosity or her passion for learning about the world. She and Seward traveled together to all the countries she dreamed of as a child, many of which were places not often visited. Even as she approached her 100th birthday, Margaret could recount marvelous stories of their travels in vivid detail, entertaining her many visitors for hours on end.

She will always be remembered for her quick wit, her vivid stories, and her incredible graciousness. An extra neighborhood child was always welcome at her dinner table, as were foreign exchange students or rotary members. Her tender and loving ways with young children were especially notable.

Her children wish to thank her long-time assistant Wilma, and the caregivers from BrightStar Care, who enabled her to live her final years in her beloved home, as she wished. She received visits from family members daily. She was 101 years old and every bit as curious and witty as when she was a child at Turkeyfoot Lake.

She is survived by her children and their families, Bill (Elaine), Rob (Mary), Gib (Elizabeth), Ritchey (Maria), and Nancy Carpenter (Charles). Grandchildren Nick Stroud (Kate), Alex Stroud (Hilary), Brett Stroud (Jill), Ian Stroud, Andrea Stroud (Sam Fey), Colin Stroud (Meg Cancila), Ryan Stroud (Shayne), Tyler Stroud (Laura), Leah Stroud, Sawyer Stroud, Tim Carpenter, Marcy Vanderjeugd (Tim), and Peter Carpenter. Great grandchildren Knowl Stroud, Mae Stroud, Atticus Stroud, Sylvie Fey, Juliette Fey, Eve Stroud, Soren Stroud, Kerris Stroud, Tillman Stroud, and Louisa Margaret Vanderjeugd.

She was preceded in death by her husband of over 65 years, Seward Stroud, her parents, her sister Betty, and her brother Robert. The family will conduct a private graveside memorial in her honor. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given in Margaret's name to her beloved Attic Angel Association or to Olbrich Gardens.

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