Bair, Margaret 1912-2001

BAIR, SHERMAN, GOODELL, MCEWEN

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 2/6/2018 at 10:14:58

The Chicago Tribune
Chicago, IL
March 14, 2001

MARGARET BAIR, WINNETKA VOLUNTEER

One of the central things Margaret S. Bair tried to pass on to her children was that the world can be a better place, that anybody could improve themselves and that one should strive to achieve both of those things.

The patient, organized woman, whose sense of humor and quiet faith pulled her through life, was found dead Tuesday, March 6, in Crystal Lake.

Mrs. Bair, 88, died of crushing trauma to the chest, according to law enforcement authorities, and the cause of her death is under investigation.

Family, members of her church and neighbors in Winnetka recalled her as outgoing and involved in her community.

"I had trouble keeping up with her," Myra Bair, her daughter, said. Another daughter, Lucy Goodell, said the family has been amazed at the activities their mother could pack into a week.

Mrs. Bair began her day with an hour of devotional prayer and filled her life with volunteer work in the Christian Science Reading room at her church or by preparing packets of publications for Cook County Jail inmates. For years, she played organ and piano for church services and Sunday school classes. Previously she had been active in leadership roles with a local Girl Scout troop.

The daughter of a college chemistry professor, the former Margaret Sherman was born in Sheridan, Wyo., and moved often with her family as a young girl. She was raised mostly in Grinnell, Iowa, was valedictorian of her high school class in 1928, and received her bachelor's degree in music in the early 1930s from Grinnell College, where her father taught.

She taught music in Iowa schools for several years and, and in 1940, married David R. Bair, an electrical engineer whom she met at Grinnell.

After a few years in Evanston, the couple moved to Winnetka in 1944, where Mrs. Bair raised their five children. When they were old enough to take music and voice lessons, Mrs. Bair accompanied them on the baby grand piano in her living room. One family member remarked that even when her children wore hand-me-downs, all received music lessons.

Supportive of her family's ambitions as well, she reluctantly allowed her husband to build miniature locomotives in their basement and a functioning rail line for them in their back yard in the late 1950s and early '60s. She also played hostess for many years to train enthusiasts who flocked to their home each summer.

"She had a wonderful sense of humor, and that's how she dealt with trying situations--to defuse the tension," Goodell said. "It was magic."

Mrs. Bair is also survived by a third daughter, Alice; two sons, Richard and Norman; a sister, Miriam McEwen; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is being planned for May.