Margaret Pelletier Peirce

SCARBOROUGH/ORONO – Margaret Pelletier Peirce, 84, died Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 in Gorham after a short illness. She was born March 4, 1938, the daughter of Clarence Pelletier and Laura (Johnson) Pelletier.

She loved school, graduating from Orono High School in 1956, where she was heavily involved in numerous school activities including orchestra, glee club, cheerleading and student government. Margaret attended the University of Maine, subsequently marrying Alan Glanville and becoming a mother and homemaker while also working for several years to help support the family. After the marriage ended, Margaret married Jonathan Peirce and was widowed upon his death in 1992.

Margaret was an amazing woman. An accomplished pianist, Margaret was equally adept at playing challenging classical music pieces (Chopin was a favorite), Broadway showtunes, or popular songs she heard that she could play by ear. She always knew the melodies by heart, but her sketchy grasp of lyrics was a subject of family amusement. Margaret loved higher math and completed college textbook calculus problems for fun. Once her children were older, she continued her studies as a Computer Sciences major at Maine and enjoyed learning to program. She would try anything, confident that she could do it and was effortlessly successful at almost everything.

Duplicate Bridge was an important source of fun and achievement for most of her life. She owned and operated the Dirigo Bridge Club in Bangor for years and was a certified American Contract Bridge League Director. A Diamond Life Master bridge player, Margaret enjoyed traveling to and successfully competing in regional and national tournaments. She had many valued friends and playing partners through bridge.

While she had a keen intellect, she was very down to earth with a broad sense of humor that led to her being called Fun Mom by one generation and Fun Grammy by the next. She lived in Orono for most of her life, until relocating for 14 years to Frederick County, Maryland living with her daughter Margaret. She spent her last 10 years in Scarborough with her daughter Betsy.

Margaret loved movies, puzzles, and casinos. She had a wide circle of friends and was constantly on the go. Margaret cherished her family and loved getting together with her siblings for weekly lunches, visiting and traveling with her children, and taking her grandchildren for drives. She was optimistic and positive her children felt her unwavering support throughout their lives. Margaret was forthright and blunt in a way that led to frequent laughter. She was always up for an adventure as exemplified by her final words, “Let’s go for a spin.”

She was predeceased by her parents. Margaret will be greatly missed by her siblings Clarence “Skip” Pelletier of Scarborough, Jack Pelletier of Gorham, and Rosemary Merchant of Portland; her children Margaret Glanville Milner and husband Ernie of Scarborough, Betsy Glanville and partner William Peter McCarty of Scarborough, Deborah Glanville of South Portland and Chris Glanville of Portland; her grandchildren Terry Robinson, Alan Robinson, Alex Powers, Emily Johnson and Dylan Glanville; and her nieces and nephews.

A reception celebrating Margaret’s life will be held at the Hobbs Hospitality Center, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland on Saturday, March 18, 2023 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Online condolences may be expressed at ww.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

Margaret Pelletier Peirce