Margaret Flynt Haskell (Peggy) died Aug. 20, 2014 in Burlington, Vermont. She was born Oct. 23, 1934, to Horton Flynt and Barbara (Burr) Flynt in Augusta, and spent her childhood there, along with her two younger sisters, Pat and Betsy. She was a long-time summer resident of Ocean Point.

Peggy attended the University of Maine in Orono, earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics Phi Beta Kappa in 1956, the only woman at Orono in the mathematics program at that time. The following year she married Peter Carl Haskell and worked in the developmental laboratories of Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York. Peggy and Peter had two children, Stephen Haskell and Alexandra Haskell (Sasha).

For many years the family lived in various places around the country, largely due to Peter’s military orders and professional assignments. At times Peggy taught in private and public schools, but mostly was a stay-at-home mom, and was actively involved with her children and the communities where they lived in Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader roles, and as a volleyball coach.

Peggy was an incredibly positive person who actively embraced the various locales where she lived, loving in turns the New England landscape, Midwestern prairies, and the California coast. An avid naturalist, hiker and National Park enthusiast, she particularly enjoyed hiking throughout her life, in the desert in the Southwest and in the many mountain ranges scattered all over the United States, eventually climbing Mt. Rainier when she was nearly 70 years old.

Peggy was a lifelong learner with a wide range of interests, including a love of literature involving a myriad of topics: architecture, geometry, politics, human rights issues, organic food, and the environment; and a particular appreciation of tectonics and the oceans.

While living in Bridgton in the 1980s, she served on the Knights Hill Board of Governors, was treasurer of the Bridgton Public Library Board of Trustees, and the Sebago-Long Lake Chamber Music Festival Board of Trustees. In 1984, she earned an associate degree in architectural and civil engineering.

In 1985, Peggy became employed as a Civilian Scientist with the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, home ported at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. She remained in Mississippi for the next 14 years, except when deployed on survey vessels traveling around the world mapping the ocean floor for merchant marine and military vessels, to include a number of tours in the Middle East, Australia and the United States. Additionally, the U.S. Navy sent her to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California for two years where she earned a master’s degree in hydrographic science. She was promoted several times and served on a number of deployments as the survey manager, ultimately retiring from federal service in 1999 and returning to live in Bridgton.

During her retirement, Peggy served as the registrar and database manager for the Bridgton Senior College, while also enjoying frequent contact and adventures with family and friends, including a road trip to Alaska and back, and a Newfoundland and Labrador trip with her sister, Pat, and her husband, John. Peggy resided in Burlington, Vermont during the last two years of her life to be near her daughter, Sasha, as she lived with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease.

Peggy took a great interest in her children and her grandchildren, delighting in their accomplishments and was a loving and wonderful support during times of trial. She had a terrific sense of humor, and a unique ability to see and celebrate the best in people, enjoying life-long friendships and special relationships with individuals related to her through blood or affinity.

Peggy is survived by her son and his wife, Stephen and Jackie Haskell, and by her daughter, Sasha Haskell, as well as her grandchildren, Loretta Haskell and her fiancé, Jeremy Mohr, Audrey (Haskell) DaMore and her husband, Joshua DaMore, Jeffrey Campbell, Steven Campbell and Ivan Peter Seyller. She is also survived by her two sisters and their husbands, Pat and John Waldman, and Betsy and Skip Klein, respectively, and their children and families, as well as many cousins and friends.

A private celebration of Peggy’s life will occur at a later date.