Margaret Vanderveldt Opitz of Raleigh, North Carolina, died on Thursday, March 31, 2016, from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. Born on December 21, 1935, in Babylon, Long Island, New York, Margaret was the sixth of nine children of Grace and Anthony Vanderveldt.

Nicknamed Baldy in her home town for her childhood head of very pale, wispy blonde hair, Margaret became known for her athleticism and abiding sense of fun. She graduated from Babylon High School in 1954 and earned her associate degree from Mount Aloysius Junior College in 1956. After graduation, she worked as a secretary at American Airlines in New York until her marriage to fellow Babylon High alumnus Roy Opitz in 1958.

During their 57-year marriage, Margaret and Roy lived in six different states, spending 14 years in Ramsey, New Jersey, and 28 years in Devon, Pennsylvania. Margaret devoted herself to raising their four daughters and playing an active role in each of the communities in which she lived.

She became the first woman elected to the Board of Adjustment in Ramsey and served with distinction. She volunteered for a wide variety of organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Hospice and a breast cancer support group at Bryn Mawr Hospital. In addition, she coached her daughters’ softball and soccer teams and was always willing to lend a hand to those who needed it.

While living in Pennsylvania, she worked as a receptionist at the Robert Downs Real Estate Agency and SmithKline Pharmaceuticals in the 1980s and later at the Paoli Thrift Shop, a nonprofit that benefitted cancer research. An avid reader, gardener and tennis player, Margaret also enjoyed traveling and getting together with friends and family. She will be remembered for her great strength, energy, sense of humor and compassion. Daughter Maria Lynch of Raleigh, NC, predeceased her in 2012. She also was preceded in death by siblings Mary Fusi of St. Augustine, FL, in 2015; Joseph Vanderveldt of Garden Grove, CA, in 2012; and Catherine O’Neill of Dallas, TX, in 1996.

She is survived by her husband Roy; daughters Elizabeth (Zizi) Opitz (Newtown, PA), Suzanne Ramirez (Womelsdorf, PA) and Analiese Kreutzer (Vienna, VA); grandchildren Charles Lynch (Raleigh, NC), Emma Lynch (Charlotte, NC), Lucy Kreutzer (Vienna, VA) and Abigail Kreutzer (Vienna, VA). She also is survived by siblings Patricia Wood (Marietta, OH), James Vanderveldt (Redding, CA), Meg VanBourgondien (Southold, NY), Susanne Hyman (Acton, MA) and Antonia (Stevie) Gillespie (Alexandria, VA).

A memorial mass will be held in the St. Mary of the Angels Chapel at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Raleigh on April 30 at 1:00 p.m., followed by the committal of her ashes in the church’s columbarium.

The family requests that those wishing to honor her memory visit www.alznc.org to make a memorial donation.

“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” - Thomas Campbell