Peggy Ames
December 22, 1960 ~ October 13, 2016
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Peggy Ames, 55, of Huron and formerly of Miller, passed away Thursday, October 13, 2016 at Avera Hand County Memorial Hospital, Miller following a long battle with cancer.
Funeral service were held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, October 17, 2016 at the First United Methodist Church, Miller with Rev. David Andrews and Rev. Matt Richards officiating. Burial followed at G.A.R. Cemetery, Miller. Visitation was held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, October 16, 2016 with a 7:00 p.m. prayer service, all at the church.
Margaret Ruth “Peggy” was born on Dec 22, 1960 at Hand County Memorial Hospital in Miller, SD to David and Delores Ames. She attended area country schools before graduating from Miller HS in 1979. In 1983 Peggy graduated from the University of Minnesota - Morris with majors in English Literature and Latin American Studies. She later added a teaching degree from California State University - Channel Islands. Part of her education came from her travels. This included studying in Mexico several times and doing a short stint as a nanny in New York City.
Peggy married Julio Najera in 1989.
Peggy was a writer and a teacher. She started her writing career in Miller HS on the "Hoofbeats" staff. She was an editor at the university newspaper while at UMM and later joined the newspaper staff at the University of Arizona. She also worked at the Miller Press and as a freelance editor for many years. After attaining her teaching credentials, Peg taught in Cuernavaca, Mexico; Oxnard, CA and finished the 2015-2016 school year at Madison Elementary in Huron as an ESL teacher. Nothing brought her greater pleasure than witnessing her young students grasp English skills that will be valuable to them for life.
Peggy is survived by her children: Ever Najera, Sioux Falls SD and William Najera, Huron SD; her mother, Delores "Pete" Ames, Miller SD; her sisters: LeAnn (John) Suhr, Webster SD, Theresa (Ken) Martinmaas, Clear Lake SD, and Ellen (Kevin) Logan, Gettysburg SD; and 12 nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, David Ames; brother, William Ames; grandparents; and numerous aunts and uncles.
Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Peggy’s arrangements.
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I am so saddened to hear of Peggy’s passing!! She was such a sweet person. We were friends and classmates. She will be missed very much. Praying for all of her family at this difficult time!!
I didn’t know Peggy but work with her sister Theresa.She is out of pain.Deepest Sympathy to her family.In friendship and caring!
My sincere sympathy to the family of Peggy Ames.
RIP my friend. You have done so much to help students to learn English as a second language. You will be remembered by many and many will be thankful that we could call you our friend .
So sorry for your loss. Sympathy to your whole family.
So sorry to hear of Peggy’s death. She fought a valiant although long battle. But she is in heaven now where there is no more pain and suffering. She will be missed by her many students and others who knew her. She made an impact on many lives throughout her short career. Joy Petersen Fellow Workers Circle 1st United Methodist Church
So sorry to hear of Peggys passing she was a friend and fellow classmate. May all your memories help you through the rough days
Sorry for you loss Our Deepest Sympathy Dr. Dick and Kathy Splichal
We were so saddened to hear of the loss of Peggy. We know she will be deeply missed by all of your family. May our thoughts and prayers bring you comfort and peace. Our deepest Sympathy,
Ellen and family, My thoughts are with you during this difficult time.
I am so sorry to hear of Peggy’s passing. She was a wonderful, kind lady. Prayers coming for the family.
My deepest sympathy. Peggy was a friend and classmate.
Pete and family, I’m so sorry for your loss. Peggy was a wonderful person. I remember working with her on "Hoofbeats". May God comfort you and give you strength. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Remembering good times and coffee times with my Mom at the kitchen table. RIP Peggy
So sorry for your loss. May God comfort you during this time of sorrow.
SO sorry to hear of Peggy’s passing. Sympathies to everyone in this difficult time.
My heart goes out to all of you. It’s sad to lose track of such close neighbors for all these years only to come full circle in this way. Peggy will be missed by everyone without a doubt. I would like to send a great big hug to all of you and wish I could be there for you.
To all of Peggy’s family – My deepest sympathy for your loss. I met Peggy back in 1984 when she came to work at Lips cafe. She was very friendly to everyone. I also remember her from church about that time. May you be comforted by your memories and the thoughts and prayers of friends. Hugs and blessings to all!
To the Ames Family, I am saddened to hear about Peggy. She was a sweet gal that grew up just 1/4 mile away from our farm, and we went to the same country school. Trust in the Lord, He will comfort you all in this difficult time.
Great sympathy and care to the family. I enjoyed having Peggy as a classmate at MHS. With Peggy’s initiative, Peggy, Ron Ziegler and I met and interviewed Charlie’s Angels star Cheryl Ladd in her parents’ home in Huron for a feature story in the high school newspaper, Hoofbeats. During our senior year, Peggy and I, along with some of our other classmates, took the ACT test at Huron College on the same day in the fall of 1978. I can still feel the anxiety I had about the test, but I remember how Peggy stayed calm and focused throughout the exam.
I met Peggy right after I graduated with my bachelors degree in geology from the University of Arizona. She was my first girl friend. We took applied Linguistics and ESL classes together. She was amazingly kind and smart. Our paths diverged as she went to Mexico to further her love of the Spanish language and the culture. I became an exploration geologist. She somehow found my phone number in Reston VA (I had 2 kids and was/am married), and called me out of the blue new years eve 1999 (going to year 2000). We must have talked for an hour or so, just catching up. Flash forward to three or so years ago, she came to DC for a conference and met my wife, Trish, and me and we had dinner and browsed around one of the best book stores in DC. Peggy and Trish hit it off and planned to meet and get tattoos together. We had hoped last summer to either make it out to MIller, SD or for her to fly out to the DC area but she fell sick and we had family difficulties with one of the kids.
Very sorry to hear about Peggy passing. Please accept my families deepest condolences.
I was so saddened to hear of Peggy’s death. Peggy and I met at debate camp at USD-Vermillion back in high school. Such a wonderful, wonderful light. May God bless her and keep her. Words can not express my sadness. My deepest sympathies to her family.