Margaret Ann Sambi (nee Meehan)

Sambi, Margaret Ann (nee Meehan) beloved wife of Walter J. Sambi for 47 years.

Loving mother of Elizabeth Gatrell and Tiffany Kelley.

Treasured mother in law of Kevie Gatrell and Joshie Kelley.

Devoted grandmother of Makenzie and Taylor Kelley; Austin, and Liam Gatrell.

Cherished sister of Thomas (Suzanne) Meehan, Debbie (the late Bill) Wilber, Kathy (Ken) Luban, and John (Angie) Meehan.

Caring aunt to numerous nieces and nephews.

Friend to many wonderful people.

Proceeded in death by her parents Thomas Joseph and Helen Adrienne (nee Reagan) Meehan of Orange Street - Chillicothe, Ohio.

Peggy was born on April 28, 1945, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio, where she attended Saint Peters Elementary School and graduated from Bishop Flaget High School class of 1963.

She moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History at the University of Cincinnati, Class of 1971 and a Master’s Degree in Art History Class of 1973 - supporting herself by painting artistic advertisement on supermarket windows until she met the love of her life, Walt, who kept yelling at her to stay off his lawn as she walked to class.

She enjoyed a career as an Architectural Historian for the Miami Purchase Association, Lecturer of Fine Arts at the University of Cincinnati, Director of Summerfair, Inc., Assistant Curator of Museum Education at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Curator of Museum Education at the Contemporary Arts Center.

She was a member of the National Advisory Committee for Save Our Sculpture, the Smithsonian Institute, the National Museum of American Art, and on the Education Advisory Committee for the Cincinnati Arts Association.
She was also a Trustee on the Board of Directors for A Day in Eden, Inc., a member of the nominating committee for Greater Cincinnati Beautiful, Inc., a member of the American Association of Museums, a member of the National Art Education Association, a member of the Mid-West Museum Association and the Museum Education Roundtable.

Peggy served as Chair for the Ohio Art Education Association and was a Provider for the Advisory Committee for the Association Advancement of Arts Education.

She was named a “noteworthy curator” by Marquis Who’s Who, all while teaching and training countless art docents for both the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum

A reluctant and self-critical artist, her amazing talent can be seen in the paintings that hang in her children’s homes and priceless hand-illustrated books she created for her grandchildren.

She will be remembered for the legendary handmade Halloween costumes (no ridiculous idea was ever denied) and for setting the bar for birthday parties and holidays at an irreproducible height.

She enjoyed lavish tea parties complete with hats, complicated jigsaw puzzles, good books, lambs with black faces, diet coke, modern art that no one else understood, along with kindling a deep hatred for Thomas Kincaid.

She was a thoughtful gift-giver, collector of boxes, master of themes, and lover of beaches.

Peggy passed away on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at the age of 75 after a 5-year battle with breast cancer.

Her final wishes were no service or memorial. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Breast Cancer Research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 19970, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219.