Peggy Merrifield

Edith Margaret (Peggy) Merrifield died Wednesday, November 24th, 2021 in Tiburon, California at the age of 92. She was born Edith Margaret Garland in San Francisco on April 14, 1929.

Peggy was the eldest of five children of Dr. Leo Henry Garland and Edith Garland (Dohrmann). She was a precocious child, as her four siblings would soon discover.

Peggy was a second generation native San Franciscan. She attended Burke’s School in San Francisco and College of Marin in Kentfield. She married Mr. James Clark Merrifield, Jr in 1951.

Peggy was an active and passionate patron of the arts. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Symphony Association, as well as a President’s Medal recipient in 1972. She chaired the Activities Committee of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and co-founded their book shop. She chaired Membership Drives for the San Francisco Merola Opera Program and coordinated the “On Stage” Opera House Benefits for three years between 1976 and 1981. She was a member of the San Francisco Junior League, where she chaired their Provisional Training Program as well as their Previews Committee for the Performing Arts. She was a member of the Auction Committee for KQED, a member of the Activities/ Fund-Raising committees for Guide Dogs for the Blind and and was a chair of the Woman’s Division for the United Bay Area Crusade. Peggy was a member of the 1980 Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall Inaugural Committee, as well as the San Francisco Opera Association’s 50th Anniversary where she helped initiate the opening event: “(Joan) Sutherland and (Richard)

Bonynge at Union Square”, the forerunner of the “Opera in the Park” series. She was a member of the Auxiliary Committees of both San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Boys Club and worked with the San Francisco Jobs for Youth Program.

She was a member of the Museum Society at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, a member of the International Film Festival and a member of the Asian Art Museum.

Peggy had five sons, Douglas, Peter, Stephen, John and Stuart. She is survived by Douglas (Edie), Stephen (Cindy) and John (Sumiko) and her beloved seven grandchildren, Sean, James, Alexandra, Maya, Chloe, Sophie and Shana, as well as her four siblings, Isabel Caglieri, Judith Harrington, Michael Garland and Sheila Reeves. Peggy had a smile that could light up a room and was known for the liberal use of the words “wonderful” and “marvelous”, which were most often heard while listening to her favourite arias or commenting on the latest exploits of her children and grandchildren. Even her licence plate read “LVOPERA”. She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.

The family has requested that commemorations be made to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Opera or the Fromm Institute.