Our beautiful mom, Maggie Fairfield, passed away June 24, 2022. She was 100 ½ years old. She was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, and grew up there until high school when the family moved to Boston.

Maggie was an amazing sewer and referred to herself as “a dressmaker.” She won a hat-making contest in Atlantic City in the l940s and was awarded a savings bond by Miss America. We have pictures of that and always thought our Mom was way prettier than Miss America.

She married Bob Fairfield and they had four daughters. They lived in Connecticut in an old farmhouse. She baked bread for a little antique store down the road and traded her bread for antiques. She filled the home with them and it was so beautiful. She made both summer and winter curtains for every window and just did everything in such a special way; she was a Martha Stewart kind of person.

She had a little sewing shop called “Maggie’s Mud Room” that featured calico clothes. She did stained glass, beadwork, and refinished furniture. She was so talented and creative and could do anything with her hands; she used to say, “she could make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

She lived in Florida for several years after her girls grew up. She worked at Loehman’s clothing store and loved all the designer clothes they carried and dressed up to go to work every day. She was an amazing worker and passed along her strong work ethic to her girls.

She moved to Alaska in 1998 and lived at a little old house downtown. She loved it and made it just darling. Later she moved into the Pioneer Home and was there for twelve years until COVID hit, and then was at her daughter’s in Fairbanks for the next two years. She was a joy, so grateful and thankful for all the care she received over the years. She loved red and always wore it!

She leaves behind her four daughters, Marilyn Rosen (Gene), Susan Risse (Kenneth), Judy Fairfield, and Liza Paglialunga (Lenny); and an extra daughter, Pat Beardsley, she inherited. She was Grandma Maggie to JR Morrison, Michael and Michelle Risse, Robert and Rebecca Dunning, and Megan Wellemeyer; and Great-Grandma to Jack and Maggie Morrison, Caeden and Michael Dunning, and Evangeline, Ophelia, and Izetta Wellemeyer.

Our mom loved the organization Smile Train. She would often ask if she had enough money to send them “a little something.” Since her 80th birthday, she has sent her Christmas, birthday, and Mother’s Day money to them, and we are sure there are lots of kids who have beautiful smiles and changed lives because of her. If you would like to donate something in her memory please consider Smile Train, PO Box 96246, Washington DC 20090-6246.

There will be a service at Zion Lutheran Church, 2982 Davis Road, Fairbanks, Alaska, at 1 pm on Thursday, June 30. Please come and wear a little red if you would like to, she would love that.

Oh, Mom, we love you and will miss you so much.