MARGARET BLAU CLEGG
11/01/1931 - 08/30/2022
Margaret Elisabeth Blau was born on November 1, 1931, in Houston to Mollie Herber Blau and Dr. L.W. Blau. She grew up in Houston with her sister, the late Esther Blau Grace, at 2027 Colquitt. An active and vivacious little girl, she took dancing and piano at an early age, learned to read at four, excelled at school, and also enjoyed swimming in addition to music and dance.
Margaret attended Houston public schools -- Poe Elementary, Lanier Junior High, and Lamar Senior High – graduating from Lamar in June 1948 as an honor student with all A’s. She then attended Rice University, where she met her future husband at the freshman dance, and in her spare time earned degrees in stenography and accounting at Houston Business College. Margaret was vice president of her senior class at Rice, earned her B.A. there, and received the Rice Institute Service Award— Cameron Memorial. Margaret then went to work for the law firm Butler, Binion, Rice & Cook as a secretary.
In February 1953, she became engaged to Joe Dunn Clegg, and they married in September 1953 in Houston at Riverside Methodist Church. After a honeymoon in New Orleans, they moved to Odessa, Texas, where Joe worked for Shell Oil Company. Margaret learned how to be homemaker while also working at the high school as a secretary and giving piano lessons. She became a Proverbs 31 wife.
In April 1955, Margaret gave birth to her first child, Roger, at the Odessa hospital. Her and Joe’s second child, Nancy, was born in 1957 in Midland, and her third child, Grace, also in Midland in 1961. Margaret was a loving mother and especially devoted to her children’s education. In addition to Texas, she and Joe lived in Lovington, New Mexico; Billings, Montana; Denver, Colorado; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Margaret became active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers Auxiliary and was president of the New Orleans SPE chapter in 1976. She did church and charitable work.
She and Joe moved back to Houston in 1977, and Margaret helped her mother and father there as they grew older. Joe retired from Shell in 1991, and Margaret devoted herself not only to him and her children, but also now to her grandchildren and, eventually, greatgrandchildren. She and Joe enjoyed worldwide travel and last year celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary. They were members of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
Margaret passed away peacefully on August 30, surrounded by the family she loved and to whom she devoted her life, and who loved her. She is survived by her husband Joe; her children Roger (married to Joann), Nancy, and Grace (married to William Berger); her grandchildren Paul (married to Cindy), Steve (married to Nicole), Michael, Brian (married to Lynn), and Scott (engaged to Allison); and her great-grandchildren Colton, Molly, Nicholas, Anders, and Hannah. She will be cremated, and donations in her name may be made to the charity of your choice.