Margaret Jones
Nov. 24, 1919-Feb. 10, 2013
Stanford, California
Submitted by Keasley Jones

Margaret Edith Jones (née Crusius), a pediatrician specializing in well-baby care, an avid homemaker, and a lifelong advocate for social justice and environmental causes, died peacefully at home on February 10. Her son Keasley was at her side and she was surrounded by the love of her family.

Born on November 24, 1919, Margaret (known to her friends as ?Peggy?) grew up in Portland, Ore. and Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. She graduated from Mt. Holyoke College (class of 1941), with her junior year devoted to studies in Germany. In 1944, Peggy earned her medical degree from New York Medical College and launched a private pediatric practice in New York?an unusual feat in an era when the medical field was dominated by men.

Married to fellow physician Henry Jones in 1951, Peggy moved to California when Henry was tapped to help launch the new Stanford Radiology department in San Francisco. First in Sausalito and then in a much-loved home on the Stanford campus, she and Henry raised three children, Virginia (born 1952), Henry C. (1954) and Keasley (1957).

From 1966-1982, Peggy served as a traveling pediatrician for the Santa Clara County well-baby and immunization clinics. Her typical workday often included driving from Stanford to Santa Clara or Gilroy to provide medical services for the children of migrant farm workers, then returning home to prepare dinner and supervise her own children's homework.

Peggy's pediatric work with the migrant farmworker community was part and parcel of her lifelong support, financial and otherwise, of many social justice, environmental, and political organizations. Local, regional, state, national, and global, these included Amigas de las Americas, Amnesty International, CISPES, Common Cause, Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, Heifer International, League of Women Voters, Marine Mammal Center, Mono Lake Committee, NARAL, Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Planned Parenthood, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Save the Bay, Sempervirens Fund, Solar Cookers International, United Farm Workers, Wilderness Society, Yosemite Conservancy, and dozens more.

Professional acumen notwithstanding, Peggy was a great lover of domestic life. The keeper of the family's cultural flame, she began dinner with a German blessing, celebrated Christmas according to German tradition, and baked countless Christmas cookies each year for friends and family. Lively, gregarious, and possessed of limitless energy, she loved to cook and entertain, and was usually either planning or presiding over a dinner party or celebration.

Until the last years of her life, Peggy derived great joy from tending her large garden, which took up an impressive amount of backyard real estate. Initially an unpromising site full of hard-packed clay, the garden flourished due to Peggy's persistent cultivation over the years, a perpetual work-in-progress that produced dozens of varieties of vegetables and fruits year-round. Many were eaten fresh from the stalk or vine; others, Peggy put up as preserves, along with copious quantities of peaches. No family members suffered from vitamin deficiencies.

A grandmother late in life, Peggy adored her two grandsons, showered them with presents, and in her last days, would visibly brighten when she spoke with them on the phone.

Peggy was married for 61 years to Henry, who predeceased her by just six months. They were enthusiastic fans of the Stanford basketball, football, and Lively Arts programs, and enjoyed the Stanford Sierra Camp and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Peggy and Henry traveled widely in Europe, as well as to South America, Asia, and Australia, and celebrated their 50th anniversary (2001) with family and grandchildren in Hawaii. Peggy is survived by brother Ralph Crusius of Andover, Mass.; daughter Virginia Jones of Castro Valley; son Henry Jones of Eugene, Ore.; son Keasley Jones, daughter-in-law Autumn Stephens, and grandchildren Emerson Jones and Elliott Jones, all of Berkeley; niece Carolyn Bower of Portland, Maine; and nephew Richard Crusius of Long Island, N.Y.

A memorial service for friends and family will take place on Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m. on the Stanford campus. To RSVP, please contact Keasley Jones (keasley@me.com). In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to any of the organizations listed above, or other progressive charity.