| SEPTEMBER 2, 2012 -- A 50-year Weston resident and special education teacher, Peg McCullough, died on Friday at her home in Wallingford.
Peg was born November 22, 1933 in Worcester, Massachusetts to Michael J. and Bridget (Diggins) O'Connor, originally of Co. Kerry, Ireland, and grew up in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston.
After completing her bachelors of science in education at State Teachers College/Boston, class of 1955, she joined the ranks of other young, bright teachers recruited to Norwalk, Connecticut to teach the swelling baby boom population. She taught grades 1 and 2 at Honey Hill and other city schools from 1955 to 1962. In 1960, she married the love of her life, Charles McCullough, of Darien. They settled in Weston, “because land was cheap there” and raised a family of 3, Michael, of Lakeville, MA, Patricia of Andover, KS, and Matthew of Kensington, CT.
From 1962 to 1974, Peg dedicated herself to family and the Weston community, as a Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader, religious education teacher and director at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, coordinator of Talent on Tap at the Hurlbutt Elementary School, and a reading tutor volunteer. Eventually teaching called her back full time in Weston and, later, in Bethel, with a renewed focus on the needs of special education students and with a masters degree from Southern Connecticut State University in 1987. Peg was a determined educator who applied the newest methods to find and unlock the academic potential of her students, where others had tried and failed. She was courageous and not afraid to go “old school” and resurrect the methods that worked in 1955 if that is what it took to enable her students. Over the years, many former students looked up Mrs. McCullough and thanked her for believing in them and making their successes possible.
In 1999, with the pending birth of her third grandchild, Peg decided to retire. She went out on top, having been named Teacher of the Year at the Bethel Middle School. In retirement, she enjoyed an active membership in the Weston Historical Society and Norfield Grange where she was treasurer, puttering in her beautiful heirloom garden, camping, traveling with Charlie in their 1941 Cadillac, and spending as much time with her grandchildren as possible.
Besides Charlie and her children, Peg is survived by three beloved children-in-law, Susan McCullough, Van McGregor and Yvette McCullough, her four grandchildren, Katie and Dennis McCullough of Lakeville, MA, and Winona and Donovan McGregor of Andover, Kansas, her sisters, Kay O'Connor and Maureen Finn of Plymouth, MA, her dear friends Jim and Marie Smith of Newtown, CT, and many, many other friends and relatives.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday September 5th at 11 a.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 35 Norfield Road, Weston. The interment will follow in Willowbrook Cemetery, Westport. Friends may call at the Bouton Funeral Home on Tuesday September 4th at 31 West Church Street, Georgetown from 4 to 8 pm. Following the cemetery prayers, everyone is invited to join the family for a reception at the church hall. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Alzheimer's Resource Center of Connecticut, 1261 South Main Street, Plantsville, CT 06479, the Weston, CT Historical Society, or the Maryknoll Missioners. |
