Margaret was a Christmas baby, born in 1924 to Reba and Connie Hotchkiss. She lived most of her childhood in Red Lodge, MT, a mining community populated with immigrants from many European nations, nestled in the Rocky Mountains. As many families during the Depression, hers was poor but proud. What they lacked in wealth, they made up for in richness of friends and family. As a teenager, Margaret had the opportunity to work in Yellowstone National Park, just over the Beartooth Pass from Red Lodge. In 1944, Margaret and Art Zuber married. They had four children when they moved to Escalon, CA in 1958, then had two more. Art was a school band director and teacher so they knew everyone in the small towns they called home. Margaret worked as a beautician and as a cannery worker, then ten years at the Hershey Factory in Oakdale. She leaves many friends in all the places she touched, and at the Escalon Methodist Church where she was a member. She lived at Stratford at Beyer Park in Modesto for the last two years. Margaret is predeceased by her spouse Art Zuber, and oldest daughter Connie Van Scyoc (Jack). She is survived by children Gaynel Turner (Nelson) of Modesto, Arlynn Zuber of Escalon, Val Zuber, Joy Zuber Sumner (Scott) of Walnut Creek, and Kent Zuber. She has four surviving siblings all of Billings, MT: Goldie Rae, Vera Carlson, Con Hotchkiss and Delano Hotchkiss; eight grandchildren: Shelley Powers, Julie Burggraf, Adam Turner, Gina Turner, Bianca Figueroa, Sara Erwin, Ian Sumner and Alec Sumner; and eight great grandchildren. Services will be held at Deegan Funeral Chapel in Escalon at 3:00 p.m. Friday, October 28, 2016. Final internment will be in Red Lodge, MT in Summer 2017. Remembrances can be made to Escalon United Methodist Church, 2000 Jackson Ave, Escalon CA 95320 or Community Hospice Foundation, 4368 Spyres Way, Modesto CA 95356-9259.
The Escalon (Calif.) Times
Oct. 26, 2016