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Margaret (aka Maggie and Margie, depending on which circle of family and friends was in the room) was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Lt. Colonel Morris H. “Steve” Broudy, in 2011.
Raised in a small mining town in Tennessee, Margaret married Steve, another Southerner, and lived in Georgia for a while, eventually moving to “Yankee Land” in 1964. The family were members of Temple Beth El in Chappaqua and she sang in their volunteer choir for over 40 years. Her side of the family all have very nice voices; Steve’s side, not so much.
She truly entered her métier at age 55 and became a business owner, buying a Bedford Hills bookstore —The Bookworm—and moving it to Katonah in 1979. The store was a fixture on Katonah Ave. until she chose to retire and closed it in 1999. She maintained an old-fashioned, small cash box under the counter as her cash register until the very end. She made so many friends while there; it wasn’t just a business to her. Her natural warmth and engaging inquisitiveness about EVERYTHING, as well as an innate ability to know when to listen and when to talk, made the store a wonderful place to visit and not only purchase needed cards and books. She excelled at telling a story, albeit, in her words, in a “winding-road-with turnoffs” manner. It was always worth waiting for the ending, though.
After closing the bookselling business, she and Steve retired to Weston in 2004. They both very much enjoyed the wonderful attention that the town gives to its veterans and senior citizens, particularly the parades, with the commemorative ceremonies.
Margaret is survived by her daughter Linda Broudy (David Eggers) of Waccabuc; by her daughter Susan Broudy (Mickey Nelson) of Weston; by granddaughter Maggie Shapiro of New York City and by other members of a large extended family, Southern-born and otherwise, living up and down the east coast, with a smaller contingent out west in Utah, California and Hawaii.
She will be buried with her husband at the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown, CT, in a private service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Regional Hospice and Palliative Care. To offer online condolences to her family, please visit Bouton Funeral Home.
Margaret read until the very end of her life. Heaven will be getting one heck of a bookstore now.
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