Margaret Vera Dahlquist

Margaret Dahlquist of Oconomowoc passed away at Shorehaven April 15 at the age of 94.

She would be the first to tell you she had a wonderful life full of love, laughter, music, travel, work, and play.

The eldest of four siblings, Margaret was born in Rockford, Illinois and lived there for 30 years.  Her parents, Jack and Alice Darby, had emigrated from England, so Margaret had an abiding love of her faraway relatives and all things British.

In 1950, she married Bill Dahlquist, her sweetheart from 7th grade through high school and college. They brought up two daughters, Mary Jo and Jill, moving to St. Louis for Bill’s job for four years and then ending up in Oconomowoc for the rest of their lives. Oconomowoc was wonderful—so many lakes and parks and they built their final home there. Margaret always said how blessed her family was to live in Oconomowoc.

Their family and friends filled their home and were always welcome. Margaret loved to cook, enjoying using precious old dishes and glasses. She loved working in her yard, getting dirt under her fingernails and working up a sweat, and her blooming flowers and shrubs were proof of her care.

But more than that home she established, Margaret will be remembered in Oconomowoc by the thousands of children who were lucky enough to have her for a gym teacher. For over thirty years Margaret encouraged and inspired kids to be physically active at Ixonia and Greenland Schools—addressing needs for adaptive inclusion, setting up after school sports programs for girls who didn’t have other outlets for team play in town. Margaret was energetic and fun and creative, incorporating parachutes and hula hoops and pop music into strength building and team building. Students loved her, and she loved them. Bill spent hours on weekends repairing soccer ball valves and constructing equipment which Margaret designed to help her students build agility and balance. She loved going to teacher conventions and summer workshops to learn from other phy-ed and dance instructors, and often ended up sharing what she had done. She always enjoyed committees and collaboration, and the State of Wisconsin recognized her in 1976 as Elementary Teacher of the Year. (True to form, Margaret credited the kids, the staff at her school, and especially her husband.) Her thousands of Oconomowoc students, now with children and grandchildren of their own, still remember her with fondness and admiration.

Margaret was involved in Our Savior’s Church, singing in the choir with Bill, volunteering to direct a youth choir, working the smorgasbord, and joining a church circle with her friends. She volunteered at Shorehaven, serving on advisory boards and working the gift shop. She attended sporting events at every level, especially when Bill refereed or ran chains, and they would both point out obscure fouls watching NFL or NBA games on TV, Together, they loved tail-gating at Madison in the fall. They enjoyed dancing and golfing and going out to eat, traveling around the state and the country. Margaret and Bill enjoyed their 70th wedding anniversary in 2020 and she always said he was her best friend.

Everyone who met Margaret was impressed by her kindness, her cheerfulness, her work ethic, her willingness to share and to listen and to enjoy life, come what may. She did truly have a wonderful life, and thanks to all of those who made it so.

Margaret is survived by her daughters: Mary Jo (Tom) Newburg and Jill Dahlquist (Jim Schacht); grandchildren Dave (Nicole) Newburg, Samantha (Adam) Stone, Jean Dahlquist (Jesse Liebman), and Jennifer Dahlquist; great-grandchildren Rhett Newburg, Molly and Alice Stone, and Jude Dahlquist; sister, Marilyn Brown; brother, Sam Darby; so many nieces and nephews and their children; her caregivers, her doctors, her nurses; her beloved neighbors and friends.

A family celebration of Margaret’s life is planned.