Margaret Queen

Margaret "Ruth" Queen, 85, passed away at home while comforted by her family on October 16, 2020.

Ruth was born in Statesville, NC to Wesley Lawton Johns and Jessie Louise Johns (nee Jones), on June 10, 1935. She grew up and lived in the greater Baltimore area from the time she was seven years old until her death. With her husband Edgar she lived and raised a family in the Brooklyn Park area of Anne Arundel county for over 55 years until moving to Mount Airy, MD to live with her daughter and family in 2014.

Ruth was proud that while raising her children, her home was a waystation for the kid’s cousins and friends. She had a sweet personality and was loved by all who knew her.

Ruth was an artist who loved to work in various drawing and painting media. After moving to Mount Airy, she loved to take painting classes at the Mount Airy Senior Center and made many friends there. The Senior Center displayed her paintings at the annual Howard County Fair, and she won several awards.

Ruth is preceded in death by her beloved husband Edgar Queen and her sister Elsie Louise Allison. She is survived by her children, Bill Queen and his spouse Karen of Salisbury MD, Linda Benik and her spouse Tex of Brooklyn Park MD, Jim Queen and his spouse Bonnie of Pasadena MD, Candy Dixon and her spouse Bob of Brooklyn Park MD, and Fran Gibson and her spouse Wayne of Mount Airy MD; 10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

A grave-side service will be held at Glen Haven cemetery in Glen Burnie, MD on October 21,2020 at 1:00 PM.

Expressions of sympathy may be offered to the family at StaufferFuneralHome.com.

Margaret “Ruth” Queen
Remembrances by Her Family

Margaret "Ruth" Queen, 85, passed away at home while comforted by her family on October 16, 2020.
Mom was born in Statesville, NC to Wesley Lawton Johns and Jessie Louise Johns (nee Jones) on June 10th, 1935. She came from good stock; her mother was a tough motorcycle-riding, turkey-shooting, pioneer woman from Oklahoma and her father was a Texan of many talents. She moved with her family to the Baltimore area when she was seven years old; although she lived in that area for the rest of her life, she retained many of her southern ways until the very end.
Mom met Dad when she was 15 and after a whirlwind romance they got married and started a family right away. With her husband, Edgar she lived and raised a family in the Brooklyn Park area of Anne Arundel County for over 55 years until moving to Mount Airy to live with her daughter and family in 2014. Mom and Dad were born within a few miles of each other in North Carolina but never met until both were living in Baltimore. Of course, Dad was a man of the world by the time he met Mom; eight years her senior and a veteran of the Merchant Marines during WWII. But age didn’t matter; he was her one and only and she still talked of how much she missed him right to the end, 29 years after his death.
Mom loved to tell stories about her early childhood in North Carolina. She often talked about the kindness of her neighbors Aunt Bessie and Uncle Samford (not actually related). Stories about farm life as well as her prowess with a slingshot were common. The slingshot stories came up near the end of her life when she wanted to make a slingshot to help son-in-law Wayne deal with some troublesome
squirrels. However, Wayne could never find just the right stick for her. Being the person she was, she threatened to go out in the back yard and find the right stick herself but by that time she could barely walk on her own and that never happened.
After they married in 1950, Mom and Dad set out having a family with fervor. They had four kids, Billy, Linda, Jimmy, and Candy in five years and Mom still hadn’t turned 21. Mom and Dad slowed down after Candy – they had their fifth and last child when Franny arrived seven years later.
As the kids grew up, Mom was proud of how her house was a waystation for the kid’s friends and cousins. There was always a whirlwind of activity going on in the house during those years and “peace and quiet” simply didn’t exist – she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Things were tight sometimes and when the need arose for additional income, Mom stepped up and continued to raise her family while working to keep money coming into the household. She worked in a book bindery for several years under horrible working conditions. She also worked at a department store jewelry counter and as a school lunch lady for a while among other things. She and Franny also had a small business selling artificial flower arrangements at one time.
Even though Mom was born in a different era she was a strong and independent woman like her mother. Dad’s job and health issues had him out of the house a lot and Mom did a lot of the child rearing on her own. Granddad, Mom’s father was a
stern man with a strong personality, but she wasn’t afraid to tell him when he did something she didn’t like. While running the household when something needed to be fixed, she wouldn’t wait for someone to fix it for her; she would take matters into her own hands and get the job done. She instilled this do it yourself attitude into all her children as well. One time, she and Grandma decided they wanted window air conditioners; they found a way to pay for them, took their camper to Pep Boys, bought two very heavy window air conditioners, got them in the camper, brought them back and installed them themselves. Mom was very handy and knew her way around a set of tools. When something needed to be fixed, more often than not, she was the one who fixed it.
After the kids grew up and started families of their own, Mom formed an alliance with two other widow neighbors, Frenchy and Bert. They loved to go shopping together with Mom doing the driving. They could get on each other’s nerves but that was just part of the experience, they’d get over it and move on. We referred to them as the Golden Girls.
After the children grew up, Mom and Dad often took trips with some of the kids and their families to reunions or to visit relatives in other states. Over the succeeding years, she often talked about her road trip to Florida and her close encounter with a bear while camping in Pennsylvania. In the late 90’s she took a vacation with Franny and Wayne to Maine. To this day, Franny and Wayne still talk about what a trooper Mom was sitting on the half bench seat in their extended cab pickup for
hours on end and sleeping in the packed bed of the pickup one night when they couldn’t find a motel room.
Mom loved the Arts. She not only loved to draw and paint in various media but also loved studying the great artists like Van Gogh and Georgia O’Keefe. She took art classes with Franny at the community college and taught an arts and crafts course herself at the Brooklyn Park Senior Center. Later on, she loved taking painting classes at the Mount Airy Senior Center and won several awards for paintings displayed at the Howard County Fair over several years, one of which someone loved so much they bought it.
Mom was a battler. In the latter part of her life, she struggled with multiple health issues; however, she never quit battling the problems and maintained a cheerful attitude while doing it. Two months after having both knees replaced (and almost dying in the process), she was walking up a steep trail to the Washington Monument in Boonsboro, MD. She also managed to walk up the “steep trail” to her bedroom on the second floor even though near the end it was a real struggle for her. But being the people person she was, she wasn’t about to stay isolated in her bedroom and figured out how to get down and up those stairs with some assistance 2-3 times a day.
Mom was an avid reader. She loved romance novels, often knocking out a book a day. Sewing was also a passion for her. During her last few years, she also loved watching many of the home improvement shows on HGTV.
Mom went to live with Fran, Wayne, and Katrina after things got too hard for her living by herself. Things weren’t always perfect, but it did allow Mom to stop worrying about all the responsibilities that go along with living an independent life. The hardest thing for her during this period was accepting the fact she had to stop driving, both for her sake… and for the sake of every human being living in Mount Airy. It was hard for her but ultimately, she came to accept it. The other thing that was hard for Mom to realize was she wasn’t the person she used to be physically. Mom had a hard time giving in to the suggestion she couldn’t get up on step stools to get something from a cabinet, or walk without a cane, or not pull on a stuck door with all her might. Consequently, she had several serious falls over the years that contributed to the decline of her health. But that was who she was (and who her kids and her kid’s kids are), a proud, determined person.
Mom lived a good life. She’s with Dad, Grandma, Granddad, and Aunt Louise now, and all is well.