Birth date: Jun 24, 1945 Death date: Oct 5, 2020
Helen “Peggy” Stackable was born to Jack and Helen Stackable in Berkeley on June 24, 1945, arriving as a great birthday present to her Mom who shared her name. Peggy was the middle daughter of three girls and for 75 years she was Read Obituary
I have many fond memories of Peggy. My favorite is the time we put together a puppet show for a family event in the Starry Plough. We made the characters and produced the show from the story "three wishes". The creativity was so much much fun, we got totally into it. Live in the moment and always have fun if you can. Peggy was a sweetheart.
Just hearing of Peggy’s passing. Condolences to her friends and family from The Hughes Family and The Starry Plough.
I took Peggy’s copy of "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" from her assisted living apartment after she passed away. Peggy loved language, puns, silly songs (silly anything, really), and grammatical abominations; I figured she’d been reading it somewhat recently and I hadn’t read it yet so this was going to be a chance to connect with her. Yesterday, I came upon a passage that made me laugh out loud. Lynne Truss, the author, cites an unconfirmed case of a writer who reportedly said on his deathbed, “I should have used fewer semi-colons.” Peggy would have loved that one; I can picture the eye-roll and “Oh, Jeez!” with a laugh.
Peggy and I have a long history of laughing about grammatical regrets; when I was 6 or 7 I sent her a letter addressed to “Anut Peggy” and she has signed every card, letter, and email she wrote to me that way ever since! Another example: during one of the many glorious summers my sister, Kelly, and I spent with Peggy and my grandma, Peggy was teaching us names of flowers we liked. Top of the list was “Forget-Me-Nots,” which I remembered as “Don’t forget me’s.” And they have been pointed out and called that for 40 years.
At first I was embarrassed of my mistakes and didn’t want to be reminded of them, but eventually — like in the past 10 years — I’ve realized she was teaching me to laugh at myself and not take it all so seriously. She was right about that.
What else? Peggy liked to recount how she taught us to skinny dip at a public campground! That lesson didn’t stick.
I remember how much I looked forward to sleepovers at her house. She used exotic ingredients in salads, like sunflower seeds. And then we’d go upstairs to watch Monty Python, which I did not understand on any level. But I really liked the smell of the ‘cigarettes’ she rolled with a strange machine I had never seen before.
This is getting too long, so I’ll share one last nourishing memory. Peggy introduced me to Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and mushrooms; it was love at first bite and my requested birthday dinner, along with steak (!), for the next 4-5 summers in California. During those celebrations, which were held in Peggy’s backyard, I met so many of Peggy’s lovely, kind, cool, friends.
Flash forward 40 years, this past Christmas Peggy came for dinner at my house. My sister, Kelly was there and did the most of the cooking for about 8 of us. One of the things we made was Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and mushrooms, and steak. It still rocks.
Thank you for all you have done for me, Anut Peggy. I love you and miss you.
I took Peggy’s copy of 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves' from her assisted living apartment after she passed away. Peggy loved language, puns, silly songs, and grammatical abominations; I figured she’d been reading it somewhat recently and I hadn’t read it yet so this was going to be a chance to reconnect. Yesterday, I came upon a passage that made me laugh out loud. Lynne Truss, the author, cites an unconfirmed case of a writer who reportedly said on his deathbed, “I should have used fewer semi-colons.” Amazing. Peggy would have loved that one.
Peggy and I have a long history of laughing about grammatical regrets; when I was 6 or 7 I sent a letter addressed to “Anut Peggy” and she has signed every card, letter, and email she wrote to me that way ever since! Another example: during one of the many glorious summers my sister, Kelly, and I spent with Peggy and my grandma, Peggy was teaching us names of flowers we liked. Top of the list was “Forget-Me-Nots,” which I remembered as “Don’t forget me’s.” And that’s what they’ve been called for 40 years.
At first I was embarrassed of my mistakes and didn’t want to be reminded of them, but eventually — like in the past 10 years — I’ve realized she was teaching me to laugh at myself and not take it all so seriously. She was right about that.
What else? Peggy liked to recount how she taught us to skinny dip at a public campground! That lesson didn’t stick. I remember how much I looked forward to sleepovers at her house. She used exotic ingredients in salads, like sunflower seeds. And then we’d go upstairs to watch Monty Python, which I did not understand on any level. But I really liked the smell of the ‘cigarettes’ she rolled with a strange machine I had never seen before.
This is getting too long, so I’ll share one last lasting, nourishing memory. Peggy introduced me to Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and mushrooms; it was love at first bite and my requested birthday dinner, along with steak (!), for the next 4-5 summers in California. During those celebrations, which were held in Peggy’s backyard, I met so many of Peggy’s lovely, kind, cool, friends.
Flash forward 40 years, this past Christmas Peggy came for dinner at my house. My sister, Kelly was there and did the most of the cooking for about 8 of us. One of the things we made was Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and mushrooms, and steak. It still rocks.
Thank you for all you have done for me, Anut Peggy. I love you and miss you.
Peggy was wonderful neighbor to those of us on Townsend Ave. We will miss her. Peggy was fun! Especially w Halloween approaching - she always went all out and was the best dressed witch in the neighborhood. Please know that she made a difference in our community and we won’t forget her...... Ellen Yasumura
My Aunt was witty and lovely in many ways. She loved British comedy and is very much responsible for my love of such greats as Monty Python, Black Adder, and Red Dwarf. She thoughtful so much so that she would find something that reminded her of me and keep it until she saw me next. She always arrived with these cute talior gifts of affection and they really meant the world to a young man. She was fun, loved to play games and was the queen of interesting snacks! I love you dearly Peggy. - Devon Carroll
My deepest sympathies to Peggy's family and friends. She was a joy to work with at the White Elephant. She will be missed!
Maureen O'Brien
I was a member of Peggy's Book Club for 20-plus years, one of the co-founders. I believe that the name of the club, when we started, was "Thursday 6:30 PM Book Club, Bring Wine." We all had a great time over the many years. Peggy hosted the Christmas Season Dinner for many years, as she loved to really decorate her house up with beaucoups de knick-knacks and sparkley things. She had a delightful habit of reading her favorite quotes from the book during our sometimes rollicking discussions.
She got us hooked (well, FURTHER hooked) on Musical Theater, specifically Westminster Amphitheater Summer Musicals, which we attended, picnic first (!!) for many years. Peggy came up with the idea expanding on the coffee mug and sweatshirt merchandise for Woodminster by adding a "Tipsy Sippy Cup," a plastic sippy cup in the shape of a wine glass, which became quite the popular item!! Watching the talented amateurs and professionals in the open air with the sun going down in the Oakland hills...what a DREAM! Thank you again, Peggy, for introducing me to Woodminster! I remember coming to that park for a picnic one day, celebrating you and your mother's "130th Birthday." I believe your mother was 80 and you were 50 years old. Lovely old Helen, lovely younger Helen, Peggy, so sorry you are passed.
Peggy also got us hooked (well, FURTHER hooked) on the White Elephant Sale that she volunteered at for years, for the benefit of the Oakland Museum. Biggest rummage sale in the world, and well-organized, I'm betting that much of the metric tonne of Christmas decorations Peggy had came from here!
Farewell, Peggy, a great, gentle, loving spirit. With a sense of humor that sneaks up on you.
Sabra Daly
Peggy was our dear friend. We enjoyed the pleasure of her company all these years. We will keep her memory alive in our hearts. We will surely miss her, Beatrice and Alan
