Peggy Morphew – March 2023
Our Volunteer Appreciation Award this month honored Peggy Morphew for her contributions to the 50th Anniversary celebration specifically – her knowledge of WVGS to contact and coax members and ex-Presidents to participate, her solicitation, organization, and MC skills for the raffles and door prizes. But a review of her history with WVGS showed an entire “career” of volunteering for the benefit of the Society.
Peggy was born in New Jersey and grew up there and in Phoenix. Along with a varied career including 15 years as a UPS “tracer of lost packages”, she got interested in genealogy and joined the Family History Society of AZ as well as WVGS when she moved to Sun City. She started volunteering for WVGS in 1996 by inadvertently raising her hand at the wrong time. A year later she was 1st VP, and then agreed to be the Library Administrator – a position she held for the next 16 years! She took a sabbatical to be President of the Society in 2000-2001 during the purchase of the Library. So, she helped purchase the Library, helped paint the Library, and administered it.
Things settled down a bit after 2013 but she couldn’t resist serving as an Aide, attending the Writing, Legacy, and British Isles SIGS, facilitating the Italy SIG, working on the 50th Anniversary Committee, and finally accepting the position of Co-Director of Fundraising in 2022 where she throws lunches with ancestors, afternoon tea parties, and raffles every month. The Board position is supposed to work with the Fundraising Committee but since we have neither a committee nor a Chair, Peggy and Sally do it all – ordering logo items, arranging events, curating each month’s raffles, and each seminar’s door prizes.
In the business world, those 26 years would have guaranteed at least a watch. At WVGS you get a certificate, a pin, and a coin purse! And, most of all, our appreciation, respect, and love. Thank you, Peggy!