WINTERPORT – Margaret Ruth Leighton, 89, passed away peacefully July 6, 2013, at a Bangor health care facility. She was born Nov. 21, 1923, in Pittsfield, daughter of Percy Leighton and Esther Tucker Leighton.
Margaret attended Maine Classical Institute and graduated from East Corinth Academy in the class of 1942. She later attended and graduated from Beal’s Business School, Bangor. Margaret worked for 40 years at Eastern Trust and Banking Company and later co-managed GE Credit Union. Margaret enjoyed traveling and was an avid reader of everything from novels to genetics textbooks. She loved to play games such as Scrabble and Rummy and watched Jeopardy almost every evening. Margaret also studied painting for many years and produced a number of lovely oils and watercolors of local scenery. When she was a young girl living on her parents’ farm, she developed a love of horses, and later an interest in the care of retired circus elephants.
Margaret is survived by her sister, Gweneth Leighton Bach and husband, Kenneth W. Bach, of Ellsworth; niece, Gayle Bach-Watson and her daughters, Jessica A. Watson and Alexandra M. Watson, of Frederick, Md.; and nephew, Kevin R. Bach and wife, Michelle L. Berger, and their sons, Samuel P. Bach, Herschel L. Bach and Charles A. Bach of Surry. She will also be missed by loving family, friends and neighbors.
A celebration of Margaret’s life will take place 3 p.m. Friday, July 12, at Hampden-Gilpatrick Funeral Home, 45 Western Ave., Hampden. Donations in Margaret’s honor may be made to a charity of your choice; The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, P.O. Box 393, Hohenwald, TN 38462, www.elephants.com; or Hope Elephants, P.O. Box 2025, Hope, ME 04847, www.hopeelephants.org. Messages of condolence and memories may be shared through www.hampdengilpatrick.com.
Margaret Ruth Leighton
