Margaret M. Warrick

Margaret M. Warrick passed away peacefully in Salt Lake City on the morning of October 14 at the age of 94. She was born to Morris E. and Stella G. Adkins in Boise, Idaho on July 20, 1927. She grew up on her parents’ dairy farm near Meridian, Idaho with her parents, paternal grandparents, and brother Howard who was two and a half years younger.

Margaret attended Meridian Public Schools through high school. She graduated from Meridian High School in 1943 as valedictorian. She also served as Editor-In-Chief of the Meridian High School yearbook, the Mana Ha Sa. She went to Boise Junior College (now Boise State University) for her first two years of college. She was a member of the Valkyries service club. She continued her studies at the University of Oregon where she pledged the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She graduated from there with a degree in music in 1947.

Margaret invited returning Navy veteran and fellow Meridian High alum, Harry W. Warrick, to a Job’s Daughters’ girls’ choice dance while they were both attending Boise Junior College. This was the beginning of a 75-year romance with Wes, as Harry is known to his family. They got married in Boise on December 21, 1949. She moved back to Evanston, Illinois to be with her new husband as he finished his degree in Business Administration at Northwestern University.

The couple returned to Boise where they had their first two children, Steven and Carolyn. The telephone company transferred Harry to Denver, where they had another daughter, Janet. They later moved to Albuquerque, where they had their youngest daughter, Susan. Subsequent transfers took them to El Paso, Texas, back to the Denver area, and finally to Salt Lake City.

Margaret had her own career teaching piano. She began as a 15-year-old in 1943 and continued on until retiring in 2011, a couple of months short of her 84th birthday. She long believed her strong suit as a musician was in teaching. She was an excellent teacher, imparting her knowledge with a warmth and understanding that enabled her students to achieve their full potential as musicians. She also expressed her other musical passion as an organist, serving in a number of different churches through the years. She particularly enjoyed playing the massive pipe organ at First Methodist Church in Salt Lake.

Margaret had many interests. She was an avid reader and devotee of political news. She was an excellent and creative cook, continuing to improve her repertoire into old age. She loved the cats she had throughout her life, as well as her special female Chow dog, Osa Negra. Margaret had a way with words. She wrote with both imagination and a high level of skill. She had a wit that was amusing without being hurtful. Nonetheless, her sassy sense of humor often surprised those who underestimated the white-haired church organist.

Margaret belonged to a number of organizations over the years including: the American Association of University Women, The American Guild of Organists, the Utah Music Teachers Association and P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was a warm and engaging person with a generous spirit and a willingness to do more than her part.

She was predeceased by her parents and brother. She is survived by her husband, four children, two sons-in-law, seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

In recognition of her long association with two churches, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church will join in Margaret’s Memorial Service that will be held 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at First United Methodist Church, 203 South 200 East. The service will be available to live stream at https://www.youtube.com/c/FirstUnitedMethodistChurchSLC. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Margaret’s name to P.E.O. Chapter A for the Helen Abbott Fund for women, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church for ADA and Playground Improvements, or First United Methodist Organ Curator Fund.