Wolf, Elizabeth M. 'Peggy' (Roys) 1923-2010

WOLF, ROYS, FOSTER, BESTVINA

Posted By: S. Ferrall - IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 4/2/2022 at 17:10:23

Elizabeth Margaret 'Peggy' (Roys) Wolf, 87, died at 3:33 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, at Champaign County Nursing Home, Urbana, Ill., where she had resided for the past 13 months.

Memorial services were held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, at St. Joseph United Methodist Church, 205 N. Third St., St. Joseph, Ill. The Reverend Mark Harris officiated.

Peggy was born March 11, 1923, in Volga to Nellie Belle (Foster) Roys and Benjamin Franklin Mellors Roys.

She grew up on farms around Volga and Wadena and attended high school in Strawberry Point. She later attended college at the University of Dubuque (1943) and at Augustana in Rock Island, Ill., where she received her B.A. (1948).

Peggy taught in Cedar Rapids for three years and then attended a summer session at Northern Iowa Colonies, a residential facility for students with special needs. She met Lloyd Wolf when they shared the classroom in which they each taught, took classes together, and began to forge their life together.

Peggy and Lloyd married on Jan. 20, 1952, and Peggy moved to Chippewa Falls, Wis., where Lloyd was teaching. He preceded her in death on Jan. 30, 2009.

The couple had their first child, Margaret, in 1953 in Chippewa Falls; Terri was born in Urbana, Ill., in 1954; Bill was born in Cincinnati in 1957; and Janet was born in Lincoln, Ill., in 1959.

Peggy resumed her teaching career, which had been interrupted when she married, by teaching elementary Spanish lessons in their home for three years. she then taught in the public schools, with primary level positions in Chestnut, Ill., and Mt. Pulaski, Ill., and special education and remedial reading in Easton, Ill., Oquawka, Ill., St. Joseph, Ill., and Sidney, Ill. She had a lifelong passion and gift for teaching children with special needs, was an advocate for early childhood education, and encouraged young teachers who shared her commitment.

Peggy served as a private reading tutor until she was well into her 80s. She also helped coordinate the Sidney Community Library Summer Reading Program and the Grandparents Reading in the Classroom program. After reading Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea," Peggy helped found the local "Pennies for Peace" program to benefit the Central Asia Institute, which builds and funds schools and community centers in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

An avid reader, Peggy was a supporter of WILL/PBS, interested in word-find puzzles, crossword puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles. She was an amateur seamstress, from her kids' clothes to, in recent years, American Girl doll clothes. She was enthused about gardening, hummingbirds, cardinals, goldfinches, and wild animals. She loved bells and Celtic music. She enjoyed making candles.

Peggy extended her goodwill with donations to the Lakota Sioux Reservation, the Champaign County Men's Shelter, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. She donated her body to the Illinois Anatomical Gift Association, a final act of giving in a life-time of generosity.

Preceding Peggy in death were her parents and her brothers, Robert Roys and Bernard "Bud" Roys.

She is survived by three daughters, Janet Wolf of Sidney, Ill., Margaret Wolf of Bloomington, Ill., and Teresa (Robert) Bestvina of Carmel, Ind.; a son, William (Cyndy) Wolf of Wake Forrest, N.C. and seven grandchildren, Mary (Terrill) Hare, Mikhail Williams, Melissa Phillips Anderson, Brandon Phillips, Tyler Wolf, Christine Bestvina and Michael Bestvina.

~Elgin Echo, Wednesday, December 1, 2010; pg 4