Margaret Ann Abeyta died peacefully at her daughter's home on November 14, 2018 of causes related to metastatic colon cancer.  Margaret was married to the late Jose "Jay" P. Abeyta, who died on January 15, 1998 after 37 years of marriage.

Margaret was born in Auburn, NY on July 6, 1939, daughter of the late Irene (Barcomb) and John P. Battram.  She grew up on 3500 acre Howland Island, surrounded by the Erie Canal and Seneca River, where her father was a game warden for the state of New York.  Margaret remembered getting lost in the cornfields while playing hide'n'seek with her older siblings, and the German POWs working on the island towards the end of World War II giving her candy because her blond hair reminded them of their daughters back home.   After graduating from Port Byron High School in 1957, Margaret went to secretarial school and then worked as a secretary at General Electric in Syracuse.  There her roommate introduced her to the man who would become her husband and the love of her life; they married in 1960.

Margaret and family moved to Dunstable in 1973 and she quickly became an integral part of the community there. Once her children were in their teens, she started working for the postal service delivering mail in Dunstable. Her creative bent led her to work in a local shop specializing in flower arrangements, with Elaine Crandall who turned out to be a very close lifelong friend in town.  Margaret began working at the Dunstable Free Public Library in 1979, when the library was housed in the Town Hall along with the police station. She saw many changes during her 20-year tenure there. She realized that computerizing the collection would greatly assist library patrons and staff, purchasing the computer and software to do just that.  She worked closely with the  children's librarian, Sue Tully, who became another dear lifelong friend.  In 1989, Margaret became Library Director and was instrumental in obtaining a grant to build a free standing library and saw the project through to completion despite the loss of her husband in an ice-climbing accident in 1998.  Upon retiring in 1999, she devoted many hours helping care for her first grandchild Jesse, and then her twin grand-babies, Mirra and Denali born 6 years later.  She also made frequent visits to spend time with her grandchildren Nolan and Noelle.

In her later years, Margaret enjoyed gardening, breakfast club in Groton and lunching with the Dunstable seniors, book club, as well as being with her family.  Margaret is survived by her daughter, Rebecca "Becky" Abeyta and son-in-law Harold Payson of Lexington MA, son Roberto "Rob" Abeyta and daughter-in-law Karen Abeyta of Rutland VT, son John Paul Abeyta and daughter-in-law Amy Abeyta of Reading MA, and grandchildren, Mirra and Denali Payson, Nolan and Noelle Abeyta, and Jesse Abeyta, as well as many nieces and nephews.  She was a remarkable woman and will be very sorely missed.

Relatives and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life service and reception for Margaret which will be held at the Dunstable Evangelical Congregational Church on Tuesday, November 20th at 3pm.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Dunstable Public Library, P.O. Box 219, Dunstable, MA 01827, or to the American Cancer Society.