HOT SPRINGS — Margaret Yates Harris,

known to all as Peggy, passed away Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at CHI St. Vincent Mercy Hospital. Peggy, who made friends throughout Arkansas in her nearly 88 years of life, worked for then-Governor Bill Clinton’s staff as executive director of Keep Arkansas Beautiful in the late 1980s until Bill’s inauguration as president in 1993. Peggy then worked the rest of her professional life in Heber Springs for Patti and Dick Upton’s Aromatique Inc. as public relations director.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Sam C. Harris, a Pine Bluff dentist who died in 1983.

Peggy was born in Winchester, Va., on Dec. 8, 1933, the third child and only daughter of Charles James Yates Jr. and Margaret McDonald Yates, who predeceased her. She was also predeceased by her brothers, Charles J. “Chuck” Yates III and John Alexander “Jack” Yates, as well as her first cousin, Henry Little Baxley Jr., who was like a brother to her. Her sister-in-law, Patricia Chapman, Sam’s sister, became like a sister to her as well and they spent many years together until Pat’s passing in 2018. Also, Peggy’s devoted sonin-law, John W. Sanders, Jr., of Hot Springs, who died in 2007.

She is survived by a daughter, Julie Sanders of Hot Springs; sons, Jim Harris (Tricia) of Little Rock and Stephen Harris (Loretta) of Benton; grandchildren William Sanders, Sarah Sanders, Scott Harris, Catherine Harris and Sam Harris; and Henry Baxley’s widow, Ursula, of Marshall, Va., and Hen and Ursula’s children John (Ruth) Baxley, and Ruth (Paul).

Everyone who worked for Peggy at home through the years became her family. Such was the case with Beckey Haight and Cheryl Kapella, who tended to her in her final years. Dr. Tim English, her Hot Springs physician, was also someone she considered a blessing.

She also leaves her cherished rescue dog Charlie and cat Miss Kitty, two of a long line of beloved pets that decorated Peggy’s life all the way back from her childhood growing up on a farm, The Cove, outside Hume, Va.

Peggy’s family moved to Arlington, Va., to be closer to her parents’ jobs in Washington, D.C., in the 1940s. Peggy was a 1952 graduate of Washington-Lee High School, where she often told of being a senior cheerleader alongside Shirley Beatty, who would become famous as the actress Shirley MacLaine. Peggy attended college at George Washington University in D.C. before moving to Kansas City as a flight attendant for TWA where she met her future husband, Dr. Sam C. Harris.

Sam’s passing may have left Peggy alone, but it opened new professional doors for her, and she in turn blossomed. She was named director of Keep Pine Bluff Beautiful in the mid-1980s, which then led to Governor Clinton selecting her for his staff to run the statewide organization, Keep Arkansas Beautiful, and then on to Aromatique. Peggy retired to Hot Springs in 2016.

She was a compassionate soul who gave generously to her church and other organizations. Peggy truly had a servant’s heart and it showed in her strong empathy for others in need. Her children stated, “It was through my mother I learned to have faith in Christ and to know the power of prayer”.

Peggy was an Episcopalian, with memberships at Trinity Episcopal Church in Pine Bluff, St. Francis Church at Heber Springs, and St. Luke’s in Hot Springs, not to mention her “honorary membership” with National Cathedral in D.C. during the past two years via YouTube. Peggy was always active in her church, giving her time as a Sunday School teacher, orchestrating the children’s Christmas Pageant at Trinity, and the organization of Episcopal Church Women.

It was through St. Francis that Peggy met one of her closest spiritual companions and friend, the Reverend Dr. Marti Dalby, who will lead a memorial service for Peggy on Wednesday, December 1, at 2 p.m., at Anthony Chapel of Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Ark.

Memorials for Peggy may be sent to St. Francis Episcopal Church of Heber Springs, Arkansas or to the Outreach Ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 228 Spring Street, Hot Springs, Ark., 71901. Read full obituary and sign guestbook at www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/chenal