Margaret (Peggy) Frances (Phinney) Hinckley passed away peacefully Friday, May 27, 2022, at Sunrise at Gardner Park, Peabody, MA surrounded by family. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Grace (Sullivan) Phinney and Hugh Phinney and lived most of her life in Winthrop, Massachusetts.
Margaret graduated from Winthrop High School and obtained her bachelor's degree in English as well as graduate credits for Library Science from Salem State College. She married her high school sweetheart, Horace Vincent Hinckley, when he returned from service in the Pacific theater during WWII and together they raised their 7 children who attended St. John the Evangelist School and Winthrop High School, well guided by their mother toward college and career readiness. She was a communicant at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, raised her children in the faith, and modeled, organically, what it meant to do God’s work by nurturing her family, equipping her children to succeed and be of service in their adult lives, and ministering to the needs of her elderly mother and aunt. She celebrated her family’s special occasions and supported them through their challenges. Once all of her children were in school, she began her secondary career working as an administrative assistant to the Visiting Nurses Association and Winthrop Hospital before combining her lifelong loves of literature and research and settling into her career as a public librarian at Winthrop Public Library. While her greatest joy was to have her family gathered under her roof sharing each other’s company and her home cooking, she also found satisfaction in researching and presenting information. Her interests included the History of Winthrop, its notable residents, and the Narrow Gauge Railroad. Her research of the Boston Harbor islands helped protect them from being turned into airport runways and remain significant archaeological, historic, and natural treasures. Before and after her retirement, Margaret continued to provide books and literature to shut-ins, friends, and family. She was known as “Grandma Books” by her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Despite her decline and her own challenges later in her life, she continued to cherish visits from loved ones and desired, as always, to be a part of their lives, supporting them in whatever way she could. She was well loved and will be missed.
Margaret is predeceased by her husband, Horace (“Hink”) Hinckley and son Thomas Hinckley and is survived by her sister, Marylou (Phinney) Strain, as well as her remaining children and their spouses, Claire and Dan Wholley, Martha and Don Neufeld, Christine and Grayson Holly, daughter-in-law Cynthia Hinckley, Louis and Lee Hinckley, Francis and Pamela Hinckley, and Mary Beth and Jay Smith, as well as her grandchildren, Rebecca, Samuel and Matthias Wholley, Nathan Nemeth, Anthony and Dominic Foti, Christopher Hinckley, Lydia Hinckley, Nicholas Hinckley, Rachael (Hinckley) Corcoran, Benjamin Hinckley, Eric, Abigail, Hannah, and Noah Smith, 12 great-grandchildren, and many beloved nieces, nephews, and their families.
Margaret’s funeral will be held in St. John the Evangelist Church 320 Winthrop St. Winthrop, on Wednesday, June 1, at 10AM. Relatives and friends are invited. Please go directly to church. Interment will be in Winthrop Cemetery (Belle Isle Section). In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to Care Dimensions Hospice 75 Sylvan St. Suite B102, Danvers, MA 01923.