Marguerite (Maggie) Edwards Kniffen, 82, of Punta Gorda, Florida passed away unexpectedly on Monday, January 20, 2014.
Maggie was born on July 31, 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the oldest child of Elizabeth (Betty) and Dr. David Edwards. Her family relocated to Baton Rouge, LA in 1934, where her father developed the catalytic cracker converter for Esso (now Exxon). Maggie and her two brothers, David and John, spent their childhood in Baton Rouge, and Maggie graduated from the LSU University Laboratory High School in 1947 at the age of 15. She attended Woman’s College of UNC (now UNC Greensboro) before transferring to LSU, where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority and graduated with a degree in Foreign Languages in 1952. It was at LSU in the Spring of 1951 that she met Samuel James Kniffen, the son of an LSU Professor and researcher at the home of mutual friends after Jim’s return from the Navy and his enrollment in LSU. They fell in love and were married in her parents’ garden surrounded by family and friends, on Friday, June 13, 1952. Maggie and Jim moved to the greater Houston area shortly after their marriage, where Jim took an engineering job with Phillips Chemical Company and Maggie completed her Master’s Degree in Psychology at the University of Houston in 1975. Maggie and Jim lived in St. Louis (1955-1957) and Philadelphia (1978-1981) as Jim pursued career opportunities, always returning to the Houston area, where they raised their two children, Anne Elizabeth (1955) and James Kenneth (1958). In 1993, they retired and subsequently built a retirement home at Point Venture on Lake Travis. They relocated to Punta Gorda, Florida in 2000 to enjoy boating, gardening and lovely weather.
During her life, Maggie was a wonderful and beloved wife, mother, homemaker, landscaper, cook, seamstress and quilter. She was a member of the Isles Yacht Club and a former member of the Peace River Quilters Guild. She volunteered in many capacities over the years and developed many lifelong friends from different chapters of her life.
Maggie is survived by her husband, Samuel James Kniffen, her daughter, Anne Elizabeth Kniffen, granddaughters, Elizabeth Ann Bruyere, Catherine Jane Bruyere and Sarah Marguerite Bruyere and her brother John McKinley Edwards. She was predeceased by her parents, Dr. David Fruston Edwards and Elizabeth Mullen Edwards, her son, James Kenneth Kniffen, and her brother, Philip David Edwards.
A Memorial Service to celebrate Maggie’s life will be held at the Roberson Punta Gorda Chapel, 215 Mary Street, in Punta Gorda at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 25, 2014. In Maggie’s memory, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
Friends may visit online at www.robersonfh.com to sign the memory book and extend condolences to the family. Arrangements by Roberson Funeral Home & Crematory Punta Gorda Chapel.