H.M. Patterson Son, Oglethorpe Hill Chapel
Margaret N. "Peggy" Griffin died on January 5, 2021 due to a long, hard fought battle with Alzheimer's. Born in Albany, GA on November 4, 1930, she was preceded in death by her Father Dr. Frank K. Neill where he was Chief Surgeon at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Mother Mary F. Neill and sister, Dorothy Campbell. At a young age, Peggy left Albany for Fairfax Hall School in Waynesboro, VA. After graduating from high school she followed in her father and older sister Dot's footsteps and entered Vanderbilt University in the fall of 1948 where they were known as the famous "Neill sisters". While at Vanderbilt she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She was also the first homecoming queen at the University of the South as at the time Sewanee was all male so the court hailed primarily from Vanderbilt. Upon graduating from Vanderbilt in 1952, Peggy moved to New York to pursue a modeling career and quickly succeeded with the Jonathan Logan Company and continued this pursuit from time to time throughout her career. After New York, Peggy moved to Atlanta where she met and was married to her husband of 55 years, long time Atlanta native Page Griffin until his death in 2017. They were married in February of 1955 and started their life together in LaGrange, GA where Peggy began her second career as a teacher. Upon returning to Atlanta she continued to teach and work throughout all of her married life. After teaching at The Westminster Schools for many years, she finally pursued her lifelong career goal of having her own specialty dress shop. Peggy and her partner opened the doors of Celebrity on Paces in the summer of 1983 and it became an instant success. Known as the premier specialty dress shop in the southeast, Peggy owned and managed the store until it was sold to new owners in 2008. In addition to being a successful business woman, Peggy was one of Atlanta's best women's tennis players in the sixties and early 70's. Prior to suffering a near debilitating injury to her Achilles tendon, Peggy could be seen on the courts of Bitsy Grant and the Piedmont Driving Club as well as at many tournaments. She was the State Jr. Veterans Champion (women's 35 and older division) prior to her injury. She continued to play well in to her seventies and instilled the love of the game in her children, all of whom were successful as well at an early age. Always the life of the party, Peggy always managed to light up a room. Loved by all of her children's friends, she was affectionately referred to as "Ma Grif" and will be missed by many. Peggy is survived by her three children, Page, Jr., Neill Griffin Sites and Son-In-Law Chip, and George and Daughter-In-Law Carroll and two grandchildren Tucker and Dean. She is also survived by her brother Frank Neill and his wife Patty Sue as well as several nieces and nephews. The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the wonderful caregivers who took such good care of Peggy - Rose Kombe, Susan Muikia, Ruth Kutinkala and Susan Maritu. Your loving care provided her with such comfort during these last five years. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to be made to the Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, 1762 Clifton Rd., Suite 1400, Atlanta, GA 30322 or a charity of your choice. Due to the current Covid 19 restrictions, a private family graveside service was held at Arlington Memorial Cemetery on Tuesday, January 12th.
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