Margaret “Peggy” Dabilis, 77, who lived an enviable life close to family and friends, devoted to her daughter Catherine and grandchildren Aoife and Robert, passed away on Dec. 9 at Mass. General Hospital after a long illness.
She was born Margaret Owens on Aug. 10, 1947 into a family well known in Charlestown, where she attended schools and Charlestown High School. She was a loving and devoted wife to her former husband Andrew, known for her ferocious defense of issues important to her, and didn’t tolerate injustice. She is the beloved sister of Stephen Owens, Thomas Owens and his wife Marylee, Mary Beasley and her late husband Tim, and the late Joseph “Butch” Owens, Barbara Owens, Patrick Owens, James Owens, John Ridlon, Robert Ridlon, Arthur Ridlon, Dorothy Ridlon, and Pauline Ridlon.
She loved her cats and music - especially Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, Somewhere in Time and Long, Long Time, and her Irish heritage. She worked in a number of positions in Charlestown and in administrative work in banking.
She could be counted on to be seen in a corner seat with her large family at Baldwin and Bunker Hill Streets for the annual 17th of June parade marking the Battle of Bunker Hill, and for her strong opinions, at once combative and loving, intense and compassionate, and dispensing kindness to those who needed it.
Peggy’s services will be private.