Margaret Rouse Wolfe
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Margaret (Peg) Rouse Wolfe, 84, of Anchorage died peacefully in her sleep September 29, 2019 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. She was born July 17, 1935, at Bemidji, Minnesota, to Willard H. "Bill" Rouse and Frances D. "Frankie" Lloyd. She graduated from Bemidji High School in 1953. She then earned a BA in Human Services from the University of Minnesota (1957) and an MS / Social Work (1965) from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
In 1958, she began her 10 year social work career in Minnesota, culminating as a Regional Training Officer for Head Start. She drove to Alaska, alone, in 1968 to work in Juneau as a Daycare Consultant with Alaska Health and Social Services, where she met her future husband, John G. R. Wolfe, then moved to Anchorage with the Borough Health Department later in 1968.
Margaret and John married in Anchorage August 8, 1969 and recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. She helped raise step-sons John Jr. and David. Like the heroine of The Sound of Music (a favorite musical), Margaret came into a ready-made family and won them over by being colorful, daring, and musical--and by cooking great Midwest meals. The family remembers Margaret for her piano, guitar, humming while cooking, and voracious reading.
In the 1970s she managed the Anchorage Federation of Community Councils, and became fully involved in the field of Early Childhood Education. She later purchased Midtown Daycare Center and operated it for nearly 15 years. Following retirement, she volunteered at Alaska Regional Hospital for over 12 years.
The overriding enjoyment of Margaret's life was Early Childhood Education, and it was satisfying to help the hundreds of children who attended her Midtown Daycare Center. Survivors include her husband John, his sons John Jr. (Gretchen Nelson), and David (Lynn Palmquist), all of Anchorage; granddaughters Rebecca Wolfe, Avery Wolfe, and Annika Wolfe; and sister D'Ann Rouse Stone (James R. Stone) of Clearwater, Florida. Margaret was pre-deceased by her parents, an infant sister Joyce Marie Rouse; and her brother Willard H. Rouse Jr.
Arrangements are by Janssen's Funeral Homes. Memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to Anchorage Association for the Education of Young Children or Alaska Regional Hospital Volunteers Auxiliary. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Bemidji, MN at a later date.