Peggy Bates Hockett, Class of 1955

Peggy Bates Hockett ’55 died January 31, 2020 in Wooster, OH. She was born on May 10, 1934 in Doddridge County, West Virginia, to Harold and Velva Bates. She attended Akron Ellet High School then Otterbein College, and eventually earned two master’s degrees. While at Otterbein, she was involved in the Sigma Alpha Tau (Owls) sorority, Women’s Athletic Association, choir and played field hockey.

She dedicated her career to education, serving as the elementary science supervisor for Cleveland Public Schools; a children’s science program host on WVIZ public television; and principal of Parkman and Huntsburg elementary schools in Geauga County, Ohio. In 1984 she moved to Wooster, Ohio to serve as principal of Beall Avenue Elementary School and then as an administrator with Tri-county Education Center. Education wasn’t just a vocation for her – it was a personal passion.

Peggy had a love of reading, gardening, all animals, nature, music and cooking, which she shared with and passed on to her children. She was an independent single parent raising four children the majority of her adulthood. She reconnected with the love of her life and remarried in 1992. She was an active member of St James Episcopal Church, singing in the choir and serving on vestry. In her later years, she loved nothing more than being with close friends and family and her adored pets, enjoying the beauty of the acreage of her property and the variety of wildlife that visited.

Peggy was preceded in death by her brother Hank and is survived by her husband John, her children Mark (Alicia Lancashire) Archacki, Jeff Archacki, Jill (Ron) Munro, Meg (Bob Gardner) Archer and Hannah (Jack Bowersock) Roscoe; and her grandchildren Anna Munro and Alexander Hampton.