Obituary of Margaret Lynn Waldherr

Western Washington and the world lost a kind soul yesterday. To me, I lost my grandma, to my family, they lost a sister, cousin, aunt, mom, grandma, great grandma, friend and wife. To Western Washington, they lost an iconic part of the food industry, Peggy's Cinnamon Rolls.

 

I haven't lost a lot of people in my life, not especially close to me anyways, so when the loss happens it's a very odd feeling. I've lost too many animals to count, and I have mourned hard pretty much every time. But when I've lost a human companion or family member, the way of mourning comes on a lot differently.

 

My grandma was a huge part of my childhood, the kind of grandma I wish everyone had the privilege to have. I grew up in a family business filled with all the delicious, sweet breads, free for my taking. A fair scone any day of the week, fresh out of the oven that I got to fill with whichever jam I chose, I got to dip my own biscotti until the ratio was 2:1 chocolate: biscotti, helped myself to the endless amounts of cookie dough in the walk-in freezer, licked the mixing bowls after a batch of muffin mix was emptied out, ate a dixie cup full of dry brownie mix (my absolute favorite) hollowed out a loaf of French bread that was as long as my arm, eating all the contents, ate a cinnamon roll whenever I wanted, though they were my least favorite thing in the bakery to everyone's surprise. Pretty sure she's the reason why I love dessert foods.

 

But outside of the bakery she rounded up the family and would always do a getaway to the beach every summer when I came out to visit. Even letting me do the beach horseback rides a few times. We've also gone on road trips to national monuments like Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Natl Monument, among others. And aside from my own childhood, my grandma did a lot for her community and food was always at the center of it, right next to her big, caring heart. She put on Veterans Day dinners at one of the local churches she attended, which I would help out at along with the rest of our family, catered at the bazaars at Holy Rosary Catholic School, she sold her baked goods at the farmers markets in Tacoma, and she was just an upstanding citizen with a warm personality. She just wanted to make people happy, and what better way than to do it through food and a warm personality. Also dedicated to her faith, though Sundays after church and breakfast may have involved a little sinning at the casinos. She said she would just ask for forgiveness next Sunday, maybe say a few Hail Mary's. I used to sit with her and my great grandma and go through the entire rosary and say the Hail Mary's with them in the evenings when I was a kid.

 

She is what brought our family together every year for thanksgiving, Christmas and easter and she loved seeing all the grandkids. She instilled a love for baking in my own son, her first bio grandchild. She taught him how to make cookies, and now he has taken that onto experimenting with other things, like homemade pretzels, scones, and some other concoctions.

 

I don't mourn people the same way I mourn animals. Mourning my two-legged loved ones is more focused on the memories I can no longer reminisce with them about, the story telling, and memory sharing is done now that that loved one that is no longer here. And my grandma was the keeper of records of all our family history. We never got to sit down and go through pictures and label everything or get our family tree done. But it's ok.

 

My biggest worry is for my grandpa. He gave his heart to her and that much was true over these past few weeks, seeing how committed he was to being there for her every day, and even getting to share in that moment of his final goodbye to her. That man has lived through a lot. Growing up in Germany at the start of world war 2, coming back to the US as a teen that couldn't speak English, meeting my grandma and working hard as the family man to raise four kids, while supporting his wife's endeavors on being entrepreneurial in her numerous business endeavors. First a German deli, then finally her Cinnamon Roll shop that turned into a wholesale business. That man has been through a lot and worked hard at and for it every step of the way. His lifelong partner is gone, and although he has a loving family to support him, I worry about his own heart. Not physical, but emotional.  

 

I pray that my grandma has a smooth transition and is greeted on the other side by her mother she so badly missed, her sister, brother and father. And I hope she is now free of all her daily struggles and discomforts that this human experience gave her.

 

Rest easy, fly high and be free of all the pains that this life gave you and know that you were loved and cherished by more people than I think you ever even knew about.

 

I wish I had a better picture to share, but at the very least, I have the sign from her retail shop that I grew up in as a toddler and small child.

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