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Mary Margaret Rider

Mary Margaret “Margo” (Gibbons) Rider passed peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, on Monday, March 16, 2020 at the age of 84. Margo was born in Norristown, PA and lived in many neighborhoods in Philadelphia, PA.

Margo graduated from Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in 1953 and worked as a secretary for Junto Center for Continuing Education in Philadelphia and as a senior secretary for the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia. Margo married her husband Charles “Chuck” Rider, D.D.S. in 1964 and raised three daughters in Delanco, N.J. Margo also led a Brownie Troop in the 1970’s, and over the next 30 years, she put her business skills to work as a secretary and bookkeeper for her husband’s dentistry practice.

Margo was a great listener and would make sure others were taken care of first. Family was very important to Margo and she was the youngest of four siblings, Ted, Kate, Sr. Connie, and Tim, was a grandmother to Nicholas and was a “Favorite Aunt” to many nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews. Margo was also an extended family connector, bringing together more than 100 relatives each summer for family reunions.

Margo taught her daughters how to make a difference in the world, and also how to make pie crusts from scratch, how to change their own bike tires and even how to play stickball or throw a basketball hook-shot. She loved playing Scrabble, cards (500 Rummy was her favorite), listening to John Gary and Nat King Cole records, and traveling with her husband and family, especially to the Jersey shore.

Margo was a member of St. Peter’s Parish (now Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish in Beverly/Riverside, N.J.) and was the first woman to serve as Parish Council President at St. Peter’s in the 1980’s. Margo was very involved in fundraising events at St. Peter’s: volunteered as the “Pick-A-Pocket Lady” at holiday bazaars, sold 50/50 tickets at carnivals, and was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus. Margo also was a member of the Arthritis Association and volunteered as a peer support person for those who were facing joint replacement surgeries from the effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Margo joked she was the “Bionic Woman”, and even though she often had physical pain, she rarely complained. In retirement, both Margo and her husband were active members of the Delanco Senior Citizens group. For the last six years, Margo was a resident at Granville Place, in Burlington, N.J.

Margo was preceded by her husband Charles F Rider, D.D.S. and brother Edward Gibbons, Jr. of Schenectady, NY, and cousin Jerrold Kane of Philadelphia, PA. She is survived by daughter Karen Rider of Riverside, NJ, daughter Janet Rider and grandson, Nicholas Rider Chinnici of Fort Collins, CO, and daughter Margaret Mary “Meg” Rider (spouse Natalie) of Philadelphia, PA; siblings Kathleen Belko (preceded in death by Raymond) of Blackwood, N.J., Sr. Constance Mary O.S.F. of Syracuse, N.Y., and Thomas J. “Tim” Gibbons (Theresa) of Philadelphia, as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Interment at St. Peter’s Cemetery will be private.  A Memorial Mass and Celebration of Life will be held at a future date. Contributions in her memory may be made to Jesus the Good Shepherd Parish, Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls or Compassus Living Foundation.