Margaret I. (Bowen) Stofflet

Margaret “Peg” I. Bowen Stofflet, 97, a former life-long resident of Perkasie, passed away early Saturday morning, August 18, at her residence in the Lutheran Community at Telford. She was the beloved wife of the late Millard A. Stofflet, who died in 1997, to whom she was married for 21 years.

Born in Perkasie, PA, she was the daughter of the late H. Albert and Clara (Schnoke) Bowen. She attended Hilltown High School until 1925 and then graduated from Perkasie High School in 1926.

Peg was a 1935 graduate of the former Grand View Hospital School of Nursing and then worked at the hospital as a nurse and medical and surgical supervisor for 26 years. In 1962 she became the first Director of Nursing at the Lutheran Home at Telford, until retiring in 1975.

She was a life-long member of St. Andrew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Perkasie, where she had served on Church Council, the New Pastor Call Committee, and various other committees. She was a charter member and past president of the former Pennridge Business and Professional Women’s Club.

A devoted member of the Perkasie Historical Society, Peg was one of the ten founding members of the Society’s Covered Bridge Preservation Committee, which, in 1958, relocated the South Perkasie Covered Bridge now situated in Perkasie’s Lake Lenape Park. Along with her husband, she was instrumental in the restoration of the Perkasie Carousel.

Always politically active, Peg was a former 40-year Upper Bucks County Democratic Committee Woman. She was an assessor for the Third Ward of Perkasie and later a paid census enumerator. She was also a past secretary of the 145th Democratic organization and the Pennridge Democratic Club. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Bucks County Democratic Party.

In 1968, she was one of only two Pennsylvania representatives on the Credentials Committee for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where she also served as a delegate. Candidate Hubert Humphrey became a personal friend, as did Bucks County author, James Michener.

Peg was elected to two four-year terms as a jury commissioner of Bucks County and in the 1970’s was appointed Registrar of Vital Statistics for the Pennridge area .

With a 75-year voting record, Peg’s passion for politics led her to attend speeches by Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. She also attended the presidential inauguration of Harry S. Truman.

Peg and her husband enjoyed traveling the world and dining out.

Always impeccably dressed, Peg was a forthright woman of great charm and honesty, who lived a well-spent life of service and volunteerism.

She is survived by her two brothers: William Barndt and his wife, Marjorie, Telford; Ralph “Butch” Barndt and his wife, Jane, Wellsboro; one sister: Dorothy “Toots” Anglemoyer, Wisconsin; a stepson: Peter Stofflet and his wife, MaryAnn, Dublin, Ohio; her dear sister-in law, Helen Barndt, Telford; her “adopted son”, Eric Curl, Arvada, Colorado; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a sister, Betty Reyner and three brothers: Paul Bowen, Charles Barndt, and Russell Barndt; a niece; Joyce Braswell and a nephew; James A Bowen.

Her Funeral Service will be held Wednesday, August 22 at 11:00 AM in St. Andrew’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Dill Avenue and Chestnut Street, Perkasie. Family and friends may call at the church Wednesday morning, from 10:00 AM until time of service. Interment will be in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Perkasie.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Peg’s memory to St. Andrew’s Ev. Lutheran Church, PO Box 257, Perkasie, PA 18944.