VICTOR, NY/ January 27, 2026: Born March 28, 1930, predeceased by her sister, Esther Hendrickson. She is survived by her husband, Harrison S. Thom, two sons, Daniel H. Thom (Lois) and Dr. Stephen R. Thom (Jean), daughter, Patricia E. Coates (Jeffry); six grandchildren, Megan Thom, Dr. Christopher Thom (Dr. Colleen), Matthew Thom (Angela), Kelly Barbato (David), Michael Thom (Kelsey), Alissa Frederick (Zach); eight great grandchildren, Maddie Thom, Alex Thom, Sofia Thom, Savannah Thom, Ava DeFrees, Anson Barbato, Harrison Barbato and Cassandra Frederick; sister-in-law, Goldie Rogers; three nephews, Jim Rogers (Margarita), Gary Rogers (Suzette), and Tom Hendrickson (Suzanne), two nieces, Linda Andrews (Ralph) and Deborah Hendrickson.

Margaret lived a very humble life through her high school years on her father’s eighty-acre farm in Canandaigua, where, when she wasn’t in school, she was home on the farm helping her father raise fruit and vegetables all week long. When they ripened her sister and she would spend Saturdays with their dad delivering the melons and gherkins to the dozens of customers they had in town, then off to the theater while their father enjoyed a card game with his buddies at the hotel. What are gherkins? That’s a three-inch-long cucumber ready to be mixed with vinegar and become a pickle.

After graduating high school in 1947 she enrolled at the Business School of Commerce and moved to Rochester to live with her aunt and uncle Estelle and Gus Bauerschmidt. After graduation in 1949 she got a secretarial job with Drs. Meltzer and Glazer. She was known as “Peg” to her friends.

She met her future husband, Harrison Thom on October 31, 1950, on a blind date while spending the night with her school friend Gail Howard. Harrison was working at General Motors, Rochester Products. The country was in the middle of the Korean War by November 1950. Harrison enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the end of December 1950, and was sent to San Antonio, Texas. From there he was sent a few weeks later to Cheyenne, Wyoming and called Margaret every day. A couple of months later they agreed to get married. Harrison flew back to Rochester at the end of March, and they were married on March 31^st, 1951. They drove back to Cheyenne in their newly purchased 1947 Chevrolet and moved into an apartment he had rented in Cheyenne.

Peg got a secretarial job at Ideal Laboratories in Cheyenne till June 1952. Their son, Daniel Thom, was born in 1952. Peg’s sister’s husband, Jerry, was discharged from the Army the first of June in California and they stopped in Cheyenne to visit on their way back to Rochester. Peg’s dad was seriously ill so it was decided that Peg and Daniel would ride back to Canandaigua with Esther and Jerry. Harrison couldn’t get away at this time, so he moved back to the air base. Peg’s father died shortly after she got home.

By August 1952 Harrison was able to obtain an early release from active duty to return to the farm to harvest the crops. He returned to work at General Motors and Peg, with her mother to babysit, secured a job at General Motors, where she also worked until July 1953.

Stephen Thom was born in 1953. Peg was content to stay at home and raise her family for a year; however, in 1954 she decided to resume working. She got a job as a secretary to Dr. Holton and Dr. Weeden, surgeons in Canandaigua, where she worked until 1957. Patricia Thom was born in 1957.

In 1958 the Thom family sold the farm and moved to Rochester. Peg found employment at Strong Memorial Hospital’s Department of Medicine working for Dr. Lawrence Young and began taking night courses toward her B.S. degree. Peg completed her graduate courses in 1975 and joined son, Stephen, at the Eastman Theatre graduation where he received his B.S. degree on his way to becoming a doctor.

In 1979, their three children out on their own, Peg and her husband moved to Pompano Beach, Florida, got their real estate licenses and went to work. Peg, missing her secretarial work, soon found a full-time job working for Jason Moore, assistant manager at Imperial Point Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale. Three years later Westinghouse Corporation, developers of Coral Springs, Florida, decided to build a hospital ten miles west of Ft. Lauderdale and recruited Mr. Moore as general manager. Mr. Moore then recruited Peg for any job she would like at the new hospital that would take another year to build. At age 60, Peg decided she would like to be Director of Volunteer Services. She had one year to recruit one hundred adult volunteers and fifty teenage “candy stripers” to assist them. In 1991, Peg had everything in place when the Medical Center opened. As happens so often, four years later it was time to look for ways to save money. Management began sending out daily directives to cut back. It was time for Peg to retire and move on. Peg and Harrison moved back to New York in 2019.

Since the early 1960’s Peg and Harrison, inspired by a business associate, began buying small quantities of stock. They did this to benefit their family and to offer a start to others who would never have had it. In 2025, they started an endowment, the Harrison S. and Margaret E. Thom Education Fund, to support a boy and girl from each of their high schools. Peg was in the graduating class 1947 Canandaigua Academy, and Harrison was in the class of 1948 Spencerport High School.

Peg was a very social person. She frequently hosted family and friends while living in Florida and enjoyed showing everyone the local attractions. Strawberry festivals were one of her favorites to attend. She loved to travel, play cards and read.

A celebration of life will be held at the convenience of the family.