December 17, 1932 – December 17, 2000
by Debbie McCarthy, Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, 2012
Margaret Herrington
Margaret McLeod Herrington: a beautiful Southern woman whose grace-filled spirit, gentleness and elegant charm were coupled with a core of remarkable strength, resilience and resolve.
Born in Chesterfield, SC, to John and Eva McLeod, Margaret earned a degree in education from Queens College, Charlotte, then met and married the love of her life, Robert T. Herrington. They moved to the Pacific Northwest where Bob attended medical school and she taught in the Seattle public schools, then eventually called Chapel Hill home for 46 years.
Margaret was the loving mother of four children; the pillar of many community organizations. She helped establish the Pediatric Teaching Program so hospitalized children could keep current with their school work. She served on the Boards of the UNC Hospital Auxiliary and Orange County Habitat for Humanity. She worked to preserve the Chapel Hill Junior Service League Country Store that raised funds for myriad community projects. Margaret received the League’s 1971 Cup of Service Award for outstanding volunteerism. She somehow found time to co-own and operate Pace Gifts for twelve years.
Margaret’s devotion to the Church of the Holy Family was profound. She served on the vestry and as senior warden, a post not normally held by women at the time. She had a special place in her heart for the Augustine Project, a parish outreach ministry founded in 1994 to train and support volunteer tutors who provide free, long-term, one-on-one instruction in reading, writing and spelling to low-income children and teens who struggle with literacy.
When the Augustine Project nearly died from lack of funds and trainees, Margaret refused to let it go. Her dedication and tenacity convinced the vestry to: 1) keep the project alive; 2) establish a board to oversee it; and 3) hire a director to run it. She was named the first board chair. A director was hired. Today, the project serves at-risk students in 119 schools and after-school programs across the Triangle. More than 700 tutors have been trained locally since Margaret chaired the board, while replication chapters are thriving in eleven other cities in three states. Margaret had a vision; she understood the need and the potential for Augustine tutoring. As cancer foreshadowed her untimely death at age 68, Margaret asked that memorial gifts go to the Augustine Project, a gesture that enhanced its credibility and bolstered its financial stability.
Each year the Augustine Project remembers and honors its guardian angel by presenting the Margaret Herrington Award to an outstanding volunteer. Margaret was also memorialized through her family’s gift of the stained glass window behind Holy Family’s baptismal font.
In the homily at Margaret’s funeral, the Rev. Lisa Fischbeck said, “Margaret died knowing that she loved and was loved. Hers was a grace-filled death. Margaret also died with the comfort of knowing that death is not the end… that is why she wanted us to be sure to sing hymns with Alleluias. Lots of Alleluias.”
For the life and legacy of Margaret McLeod Herrington, “Alleluia!” indeed.