Visitation:
Thursday, June 19, 2025 from 10 - 11 a.m. at St.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Service:
Thursday, June 19, 2025 at 11a.m. at the church.
Funeral home:
Peasley Funeral Home, Lincoln
Obituary
Margaret J. Vincent, 99, of Mt.
Pulaski, passed away on Friday, June 13, 2025, at
the H & J Vonderlieth Living Center in Mt. Pulaski.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday,
June 19, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas
Catholic Church in Mt. Pulaski with Father Joseph
Dondanville officiating.
A visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until
11:00 a.m. at the church prior to the service.
Burial will be in the Mt. Pulaski Cemetery in Mt.
Pulaski.
Margaret J. Pease was born on November 17, 1925, on
a farm near Niantic, Illinois, the youngest of five
children born to Louis J. and Rose J. Ervin Pease.
Growing up, Margaret enjoyed singing and tap
dancing. In 1945 she married Donald Waddell. In 1966
she remarried to Earl Smith and in 1967 they moved
to California and purchased a home in West Covina.
Margaret secured work at the Wham-O Mfg. Co. where
she filled the position of personal secretary to
Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr, co-owners of the
company. Wham-O was sold in 1982 and Margaret
continued working for Arthur Melin and his brother,
Tom Melin, until she retired in 1990. Earl and
Margaret lived in Whittier and La Mirada before
moving to Hemet, Ca. in 1988. Earl and Margaret
enjoyed singing together and entertained seniors at
various convalescent and assisted living facilities.
They loved camping and traveling in their motor
home. |

Earl fought prostate cancer for 11
years and was lovingly cared for by Margaret until
his death in 2003. When the Lord closes a door, he
opens a window. Margaret met Edward Vincent at a
Hospice Support Group. They soon found their life
styles had paralleled and felt the Lord’s hand in
their meeting. They were married on November 12,
2005.
Margaret is preceded in death by
three husbands, three sons: Michael, Francis, and
Joseph Waddell, one brother: Charles Pease, and two
sisters: Marie McGee and Lourine Hullinger.
She is survived by a sister: Cecelia Wessbecher,
five nephews, four nieces, three step-children,
seven step-grandchildren, and three
step-great-grandchildren.
Margaret returned to Petersburg, Illinois, in 2019
to be closer to family. She entered H & J
Vonderlieth Living Center in November 2023.
Memorials may be made to St. Thomas Aquanis Church
or Alzheimer's Association.
Peasley Funeral Home is assisting the family with
arrangements.
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family of Margaret J. Vincent
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