Margaret Miner (Peg) Morton, beloved mother and grandmother and a well-known Quaker activist, died peacefully in Eugene, Oregon, on December 19, 2015, following an intentional end-of-life fast.
Peg ended her life as she lived it, with purpose, passion, and dedication to the path laid out for her by the Light within. She was a remarkable woman who leaves behind a legacy of commitment to social justice and peace. Throughout her adult life, she was guided by the Quaker principles of simplicity, pacifism, equality, and integrity.
Peg was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 31, 1930, joining two older sisters, Marian and Lea. Her childhood summers were spent on the family property on Yarmouth Island in Maine, a magical place that taught Peg the joy of being in nature and the value of hard physical work. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1953, then earned her Master’s degree in history as well as a teaching certificate from the University of Chicago in 1956. She married Leland Gale Stauber that summer in a simple ceremony held outdoors on Yarmouth Island, conducted by Peg’s mother, who was an ordained minister. Peg and Lee moved to Carbondale, Illinois, in 1966, where they raised their three daughters, Barbara (Do Mi), Heidi, and Anna.
In Carbondale, Peg was an active member of Carbondale Friends Meeting, later Southern Illinois Friends Meeting. She served as a Democratic precinct committee person, helped to spearhead school integration, and stood in a silent peace vigil every Saturday to protest the Vietnam War, a vigil that continues to this day.
Peg and Lee divorced in 1980, and following a career as a rural outreach counselor, Peg moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1989, joining two of her daughters and their families. There she began her work as an activist, which she pursued wholeheartedly until her death. She was deeply involved in CISCAP (Committee in Solidarity with the Central American People), now known as LASC (Latin America Solidarity Committee). With Witness for Peace, Peg took part in a delegation to Nicaragua to serve as a witness to the atrocities of the Contra War. This trip was followed by several others, and Peg’s interest in Latin American affairs persisted throughout her life. She participated in many acts of civil disobedience, sometimes resulting in arrest. In 2004 she served a 3-month term in a federal prison for illegally crossing the line onto the grounds of Fort Benning, the location of the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, during a protest against that counterinsurgency school’s teaching of torture techniques to Latin American soldiers.
Peg was also a devoted member of Women in Black, a local group that holds weekly silent vigils against war and violence. She was a war tax resister, refusing to pay the portion of her taxes that would go to support the military industrial complex and instead donating money to charitable causes. In one recent action, she fasted on the steps of the state capitol building to protest budget cuts to health coverage for people with disabilities. Peg was an active member of Eugene Friends Meeting, her spiritual home for more than 25 years.
An exuberant, determined, vibrant, and fearless woman, Peg will be greatly missed by her family and her extensive network of friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Marcus and Margaret Morton, her much-loved aunt, Helen Morton, two sisters, Marian White and Lea Johnson, and her dear cousin, Henry Bird. She is survived by her children, Do Mi Stauber and partner Trisha Whitney of Eugene, Heidi Stauber and husband Michael Hurtenbach of Snoqualmie, Washington, and Anna Sommers of Berwyn Heights, Maryland; grandchildren Emily, Ally, Benjamin, Graham, and Helen; a loving extended family; and countless friends.
Private memorial services are pending. The family suggests donations in Peg’s honor may be made to Eugene Friends Meeting, 2274 Onyx Street, Eugene, OR 97403 or to the Latin America Solidarity Committee, 458 Blair Blvd, Eugene, OR 97402. Other ways to honor Peg’s memory include: 1) Live more simply. Buy less, and give away unwanted possessions to those in need; 2) Take time to absorb the beauty of the natural world, and take action to protect the environment; 3) Speak out in support of people who are marginalized or oppressed; 4) Reach out in friendship to someone who is different from you in race, culture, language, ability, or sexual orientation; and 5) Sit in silence, listening to the still, small voice within you.