Margaret "Marjorie" Newbold Pearson

Margaret (Marjorie) Newbold Pearson, proud matriarch of five sons, daughters-in-law, and twelve grandchildren, passed away on Thursday January 19, 2023. She was 94. Born in Philadelphia on March 9, 1928, Marjorie was the third child of Arthur Emlen Newbold Jr and Margaret Harrison Yarnall. She attended Springside School class of 1945. She grew up in Wyndmoor at Laverock Farm, an estate redesigned for her parents by architect Arthur Meigs. She sometimes rode her horse to school. She married Stephen Pearson in 1949. After serving in the Army of Occupation in Germany at the end of World War II, Stephen worked at his uncle’s wooden box factory, then moved on to the securities business, while Marjorie began to raise a family in Chestnut Hill. Their five sons, and many grandchildren, attended Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. Marjorie enjoyed their theatrical performances and sporting events for decades. Marjorie served her community as co-chair of Chestnut Hill’s Main Street Fair. She delivered meals with Meals on Wheels. She was devoted to Chestnut Hill Hospital, serving as a “pink lady” Auxiliary volunteer for many years, eventually becoming President of the Chestnut Hill Hospital Auxiliary. She loved the Sunday service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She was fiercely loyal not only to her family, but to her close childhood friends, from kindergarten up until her dying day. She traveled the world from Africa to Antarctica. She passionately loved nature, spending every summer of her life at Sea Flat, the house her father built on Somes Sound in Northeast Harbor, Maine. She spent as much time as possible in her small motorboat, on forest trails, and munching a sandwich in the sun on an isolated Maine island, with children and grandchildren, far from shore. In her last years she suffered various health setbacks, but always fought hard to recover, and usually succeeded. The Maine surgeon who fixed her broken leg told her she was “tough as a boiled owl.” She made her final pilgrimage to Maine in summer of 2022, and she lived her most recent months happily at her home at The Hill at Whitemarsh with her beloved dog Lilly. She is survived by her children, Stephen (Betsy) Pearson Jr, Arthur (Barbara) Pearson, Alex (Kristin) Pearson, Joshua (Tracy) Pearson, Philip (Liz) Pearson, and her grandchildren Stephen III, Andy (Margot), Michael, Nathaniel (Emily), Adrian, Nick, Anders, Elias, Aine, Theo, Maggie, and Lucy. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A private family service will be held on February 4, 2023, and a public memorial will be held at 2:00 PM on March 4, 2023 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill.