Margaret "Peggy" King

Margaret (Peggy) Amelia King was born in Danbury, Connecticut, September 3, 1929 to the late Paul Edwin Rockwell and Marion A. Rockwell. She was an honor student and graduated from Bethel High School in Bethel, Connecticut in May 1947.  Peggy came to Carlsbad on January 6, 1948 with her Aunt Edna and Norman Benson who were looking for a dry climate for their asthmatic son.  The doctor in New York told them they needed to go west or they would lose him in the Eastern climate.
She found work very soon after coming to Carlsbad with Currier Abstract Co. and then the New Mexico Dept of Public Welfare Dept. as a stenographer.  After a short time, she met a fine young man in the Kiva Café who came to see his sister, Dorothy Brown, as she and Peggy were eating lunch.  Peggy knew then that he was the one!  They married in Roswell, NM a year later on February 19, 1949 at the First Methodist Parsonage by the Rev. Orban Turner.
Soon after Raymond enrolled in McMurry College in Abilene, Texas and they moved there. Peggy worked as a secretary at Ernest Grissom Dept. Store while he went to college.  In December 1949, they were called back to Carlsbad, as her mother needed surgery.
Peggy went to work for Sears Roebuck in 1966 as a service clerk in the customer service department. That lasted 20 years! She retired in May 1986.  Peggy and Raymond spent many years square dancing with the Carlsbad Sheriff’s Square Dance Club, Artesia, Roswell and Hobbs clubs and even in some Texas cities.  They went with other square dancers to the National Square Dance in San Antonio, Texas, Los Angeles, California and in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Peggy made meals on Thanksgiving nights for some of the dancers consisting of cornbread and beans with a salad brought by one of the couples.  She made the desserts. They played clean hands dirty feet. Peggy enjoyed making Afghans for all the children and grandchildren. That was a lot of crocheting!
Peggy and Raymond had four children: Paula the only girl and three boys, Bob, Tom and Mark.  She helped with the car pooling and making cupcakes and cakes for school room parties. She was a den mother for the neighborhood boys.  The best trip was a ride on the train in Carlsbad to Artesia.  She was also a helper for Paula’s Campfire Girls Troop.  Peggy made cookies and sandwiches for them and her western riding events in La Huerta.  She enjoyed making meals for the family and friends and greeted them with “come in this house.” She liked a full house, especially at the holidays.
Peggy and Raymond enjoyed going to the mountains and spending a weekend in their small trailer watching the animals and feeding the birds and hummingbirds was a joy.
Survivors are her children: Paula Hunt of Carlsbad, NM, Mark and Judy King of Carlsbad, NM, Tom and Mary King of Peoria, AZ, Bob and Barbara King of Hermosa, South Dakota; 12 Grandkids, 22 Great-Grandkids, 17 Great-Great-Grandkids; brother, Edwin Rockwell and nephew Mark Rockwell of Bethel, Connecticut.  Peggy was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Raymond King; son-in-law, Ricky Hunt; grandsons: Ricky Allen Hunt, Jr., Robert Alan King and granddaughter, Kimberly King.
Visitation will be 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Monday, December 18, 2023 at Denton-Wood Funeral Home. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 PM, Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at Happy Valley Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Sunset Gardens Memorial Park. Denton-Wood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. 
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice. 
Condolences may be expressed at dentonwood.com