Margaret Ann Gibson formerly of Waterford, died peacefully in her sleep in St. Augustine, Fla., on May 14, 2024, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Born in England on May 3, 1938, the daughter of Henry and Ethel Dale. She was the middle daughter of five children.

Margaret grew up outside of London, England, and was a young girl during WWII’s London Blitz. For a short duration, Margaret and her two sisters lived in Wales to avoid the war, but eventually returned to London and spent the rest of the war with her entire family. Over the years, Margaret shared many stories of those days.

Her gift for sewing and quilting started at an early age. When she was not spending time work-
ing with her father in his shop, she was sewing and making quilts from various fabric she would find.

Margaret met Derek Gibson, a former Royal Navy seaman, at a dance hall in Ilford, England. They married in September 1959. After honeymooning on the Isle of Wight, they settled in Bournemouth and ran a bed and breakfast called “The Weavers.” In 1967, they migrated to the United States where Derek began his career with Boeing in Ridley Park, Pa. This was the beginning of many job changes for Derek and treks back and forth “across the pond” for their growing family. In 1975, Margaret and Derek resettled back in the U.S. in Cinnaminson, N.J., where they raised their three daughters. In 1982, Derek decided to take a new job based in Sicily. They stayed there for three years before returning to the states in 1985. Following a dream to once again to own a bed & breakfast, they sold their house in N.J. and moved to Waterford, where they purchased the Kedarburn Inn in 1988. Early on, Derek was still employed by Boeing, and would travel back and forth to Maine almost every weekend until his retirement. Margaret worked tirelessly to bring the inn to life, completely redoing and redecorating every inch. The inn came with a restaurant that they eventually closed after two years. This is when Margaret rediscovered her love of sewing and quilting. Her daughter Emma and son-in-law Peter re-opened a restaurant at the Kedarburn, Peter’s Restaurant at the Kedarburn in 1995. While they operated the restaurant Margaret’s quilting and fabric business really started to grow. She started as a small display in the front living room. Margaret’s quilting and fabric business continued to expand, and she eventually opened KedarQuilts in the lower level of the inn. This is where her true passion for quilting came to fruition. She was ever so excited when she realized she could make a business of this. When she “officially” sold her very first Tea Cozy, she called all three of her girls to share her excitement!

Throughout the years, Margaret made hundreds of quilted items from potholders to king-sized bed quilts. Her quilts are cherished not only around the country but are also family heir- looms around the world. Margaret was a very savvy businessperson when it came to running her shop, she was extremely generous and donated many quilts and hours of her time. In 2000 she received a fax from Emma about a program called “Wrap a Smile.” (This program collected handmade quilts that were sent with Rotary teams on Rotaplast missions.) On Emma’s next visit to her mother’s shop in Waterford, Margaret and her quilting friends shared this project and eventually over one hundred quilts were made and donated to “Wrap a Smile.” This was the first of several times Margaret supplied quilts to overseas projects. In addition, she donated time to her two grand-daughters Erin and Hayley’s kindergarten classes at the Early Learning Center of Vineland, N.J. She helped them make quilts for the annual quilt show at Wheaton Arts Village, a local arts center. She provided the materials and taught them what to do. After she pieced their squares together and helped them get it submitted — one even won the kids category. Margaret often donated quilts and other items to various projects.

Quilting for Margaret was not a business, but a passion. Her talent and eye for color and creativity was second to none. Around 2010, Margaret decided to scale back the B&B portion of the inn and focus on her quilting. She expanded her shop upstairs and created the KedarQuilts and Gallery — displaying her pieces, and those of other quilters, around the entire building. She also opened a satellite shop in Naples, Maine, for a couple of years.

Margaret loved hosting quilt retreats, participating in Shop Hops, teaching classes, and buying fabric — oh boy did she love buying fabric. Often on her treks back from New Jersey she would stop at the many mills in Massachusetts to look for fabric. One could visit her shop and always find something new, a beautiful new piece, or that perfect fabric for their project. Many referred to her shop as a hidden gem — you never knew what you would find but you would always find something.

Margaret not only offered advice on sewing, but throughout her life offered advice on living. She was a loving wife, mother, and adoring grandmother. She spent many, many hours teaching her art of sewing to her granddaughters. A visit to the Kedarburn was not complete if she did not spend at least one night, if not all in her sewing room sharing her love and knowledge. Each of them has taken those skills and used them in diverse ways whether it is sewing dance costumes, making pillows for their apartments, or making some money during the dark days of COVID. Zoe, her youngest granddaughter, is following in her footsteps, venturing out on her own running her own sewing business. Margaret spent hours in her sewing room. Frequently, the only light on in the inn was her sewing room. Margaret was extremely proud of her three daughters,

Jayne, Ruth and Emma, and granddaughters, Mandy, Erin, Hayley and Zoe, and loved spending time with them. She eagerly looked forward to every visit, whether it was one or all. Many an evening (when not in the sewing room) would be spent sitting by the huge wood stove talking or sitting at the kitchen table playing games. She also would go watch many dance performances and sporting events, whether it be in Maine or New Jersey. Even with all the miles between them she always made time to see her family as much as possible. They were her life. She would sneak their candy when the “parents” were not looking and had little secrets with them.

Margaret was also an avid gardener. She loved spending time working in her garden. Wherever she lived she had some of the best flower gardens, her house plants were phenomenal, and she was always able to salvage a dying plant and get challenging ones to live.

After 30 years owning Kedarburn, in 2018 they sold it and retired to Naples. As you can guess, the first thing she did in the new house was set up her sewing room.

In 2020, after selling the inn and moving to Naples, she made the difficult decision to move down to Flagler Beach, Fla., to live with her eldest daughter Jayne. This allowed her to relax, enjoy the “much” warmer weather, and concentrate on getting strong.

Margaret is predeceased by her brother Norman, sisters Jean and Daphne; and Derek, her husband of 63 years, who passed away in 2022.

She is survived by her three daughters Jayne Eversen of Flagler Beach, Fla., Ruth Kane of Savannah, Ga., and her husband Chris, and Emma Bodwell and her husband Peter of Waterford. She is the proud Nanna to four granddaughters: Erin (Kane) Steeley and her husband Austin, Hayley (Kane) Foster and her husband Adam, Mandy (Bodwell) Ladd and her husband Brandon and Zoë Bodwell; two great-grandchildren Christian and Abigail Ladd; her sister Jennifer Jackson of Farnham, England, along with many extended family members “across the pond”.

Please join the family to celebrate Margaret on August 10, 2024, at the Waterford Congregational Church, Waterford, at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Community Hospice Bailey Family Center for Caring, St. Augustine, Fla. The family wishes to thank all those who have expressed their condolences and support during this difficult time. Margaret’s memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.