- Date Of Birth: December 30, 1919
- Date Of Death: July 27, 2017
- State: Florida
Margaret McCormick Hoehn, 97, passed away July 27, 2017, at HarborChase Memory Care in Tallahassee, where she had resided for the past five and a half years. Margaret was born December 30, 1919, the fourth of six children of Duncan McCormick, a Scottish immigrant, and Jessie (nee Muir), also the child of Scottish immigrants. Her early childhood was spent in Wylam (Birmingham) Alabama, and among her earliest memories was the construction of the old Wylam Elementary School building across the street from her parents’ house. On her ninth birthday, the family moved to Minnesota where her father, a prototype machinist for the steel company, was transferred. After almost nine years in Morgan Park (Duluth) the family moved back to Wylam, just in time for Margaret to “officially” graduate from Ensley High School. Like other women of her generation, her career options were limited, but she developed her skills as an expert stenographer, and attended Birmingham Business College. She began working for the Jefferson County Board of Education under Dr. John E. Bryan and later with the National Youth Administration. At the beginning of World War II she was employed by the FBI, receiving a War Service Certification for this service. She also caught the eye of the “almost” boy-next-door, James Albert Hoehn, but their marriage plans were delayed by the war. After he returned from a tour of duty in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, they were married two weeks before D-Day in 1944. Not long afterwards, they purchased the house between their parents’ homes, so their children were raised with their grandparents as next-door neighbors. This also meant their house was the center of activity for visitors from both sides of the family. They hosted the Golden Wedding Anniversary parties for both sets of parents. She also used her sewing skills to make elaborately gowned bride dolls for bridal showers. After a few years, a son Duncan was born, and then, following a miscarriage, a daughter Carla. Margaret dropped out of the work force for several years while her children were young, but eventually became one of the first superwomen of the 1950s, working fulltime while raising a family. She was determined that, unlike she and her husband, her children would have the financial resources to attend college. In addition to her PTA involvement, she continued her seamstress work, fashioning dresses for her daughter and draperies for the house. After ten years with the FBI she transferred to the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, eventually retiring in 1976 after thirty years of service. In retirement, she continued community activities with a garden club. Along with her cousin and best friend, Margaret Brooks, she was responsible for decorating the lobby and fellowship hall for Martin Memorial Methodist Church. Together, they also worked year-round creating craft items for the “Christmas Room” at the church’s annual fall bazaar fundraiser. She also served as Church Librarian and Historian, and as a member of the Board of Stewards and Guild circle. After the closure of the Methodist church, they transferred to Wylam Presbyterian Church, where they continued their activities until Mrs. Brooks’ death. Her husband James died suddenly in 1990, but she remained in Wylam as long as possible. Later during this time she became the primary companion and confidant of her widowed oldest brother Duncan, who had been a prisoner of war in Germany during WW II. It was finally during this time, more than fifty years later, that he opened up about his experiences in the POW camp, culminating in the Death March across Germany as the allied forces were closing in on all sides during the bitterly cold winter of 1944-45. His recollections made a lasting impression on her, and in later years she expressed particular contempt for the deniers of the Nazi death camps. Eventually, her own failing eyesight robbed her of her independence and required a move in 2006 to her son’s home in Tallahassee. This was a bitter blow to a person of her fierce self-reliance, and she never gave up on the dream to live on her own back in Wylam, even as creeping dementia further slowed her mental capacity. Despite encouragement from her family to enjoy being a lady of leisure, she would sometimes cry herself to sleep in the belief that she was, in her own words, no longer “useful.” In addition to her husband and parents, she is predeceased by her five siblings: Jean Reau, Duncan McCormick Jr., William McCormick Sr., Jessie Hardin, and Hugh Gilbert McCormick. She is survived by her children Duncan Hoehn, Tallahassee FL, and Carla (Scott) Badger, Woodbridge VA. She is also survived by a brother-in-law, Harold Hardin, Rainbow City AL, grandsons James (Jessica) and Brian (Emily) Badger, five great-grandchildren, and twelve nieces and nephews.
