Margaret Ann Dempsey (1955-2016)

DEMPSEY, GUTOWSKI

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 4/2/2016 at 12:38:28

Obituary From Adams Soderstrum Funeral Home, Story County, Iowa.

Margaret Ann Dempsey was born January 28, 1955 to William F. and Lucile (Rea) Dempsey in Great Barrington, Mass. She graduated from Monument Mountain High School in Great Barrington in 1973 and Mount Holyoke College in 1977. She received a Higher Diploma in Irish History from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland in 1977, a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Simmons College, Boston, MA, in 1981, and Master of Arts in History and Archival Methods degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in 1989.

Prior to moving to Ames, Iowa, she worked in the archives of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts from 1982 to 1984, and then from 1984 to 1991 as Archivist and later Chief Archivist for the history and archives project of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. While working for the court system, she helped unearth and preserve many records that went back as far as the early days of Massachusetts Bay Colony, preserving history of the early days of our country.

Upon moving to Ames, Iowa, she worked first for the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa in campus ministry. From 1997 to 2015, she worked at the Ames Public Library. Her primary duties were working on the bookmobile and home delivery to those unable to go to the library, both of which she enjoyed greatly. Through her kind help, she developed many friends, especially young bookmobile patrons, who would often smile and greet her when encountering her anywhere in town. She was especially fond of the University Village stop where many international graduate students and their families live. Through her friendliness and interest in their cultures, she functioned like an ambassador for the United States, generating substantial goodwill toward our country through her work.

She was an active member of her parish in Ames, St. John’s Episcopal Church. She served on the parish vestry at various times and was frequently a representative for the church to the annual meeting of the Diocese of Iowa. She loved her cats and bird watching. She often went walking around Ada Hayden Pond in all seasons and in all weather (by day or by moonlight at night). There, she enjoyed watching the birds and other creatures that might appear, like deer, turtles, butterflies, dragon flies and crawfish.

Margaret passed away at 61 years of age on March 15, 2016 at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

Margaret is survived by her husband, William Gutowski, of Ames, her daughter, Sarah Gutowski, of Iowa City, Iowa, her parents, William and Lucile Dempsey, of Great Barrington, Mass., and many cousins. She was preceded in death by her brother, John.

Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to the Ames Animal Shelter, 325 Billy Sunday Road in Ames, Iowa.

A memorial service in her home town in Massachusetts will occur later this summer.

Memorial Service
MAR 19. 11:00 AM
St. John's by the Campus Episcopal Parish and Student Center
2338 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA, US, 50014

http://www.adamssoderstrum.com/
 

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