Margaret Cromwell, who formerly served as the board chairwoman of two local charities, died Saturday of complications from a stroke at Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville, where she had lived for 23 years. She was 104, and resided earlier in the Woodbrook section of Baltimore County.
Born Margaret Oliver Dunn in Baltimore, her great-great-grandfather was merchant Robert Oliver, whose summer home, Green Mount, became Green Mount Cemetery and for whom Oliver Street is named.
"She had vivid memories of the Baltimore Fire," said her daughter Margaret O. Taliaferro of Sparks. "She watched her father sort through the charred remains of important papers pertaining to his investment brokerage, which was destroyed when the wind shifted and the fire changed course."
As a child, Mrs. Cromwell played with the young Wallis Warfield, who later became the Duchess of Windsor and whose grandmother lived next door to the Dunns on East Preston Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. Mrs. Cromwell was a member of the Class of 1915 at Bryn Mawr School and earned her degree from St. Margaret's College in Toronto.
"Margaret was revered as our oldest living alumna," said Katy Dallam, Bryn Mawr School's interim head. "I had just mentioned her in my address at the graduation on Tuesday when I welcomed all the seniors as alumna. She was an icon for all of us at Bryn Mawr."
In July 1917, Mrs. Cromwell became the chief clerk of a division of the Baltimore Draft Board, which then was drafting men for World War I service. She served until the end of hostilities.
In 1923, she married William Kennedy Cromwell Jr., an investment banker and real estate broker. He died in 1974.
Mrs. Cromwell was a board member of Bryn Mawr in the mid-1930s and again in the mid-1950s. She also served as board chairwoman of what is now Keswick Multi-Care Center in North Baltimore from 1954 to 1957, and of what is now Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland.
"She was beloved everywhere she went. She was a giant in intelligence, kindness and commitment to the community," said her nephew, Edward K. Dunn Jr. of Ruxton. "She was very focused and hardworking. She had a strong head on her shoulders and could resolve a problem by identifying it and finding a solution - and then doing all the work necessary to carry it out. She was a great family leader."
Mrs. Cromwell was a longtime communicant of Sherwood Episcopal Church.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at Immanuel Episcopal Church, 1509 Glencoe Road, Sparks.
She is also survived by two sons, William Kennedy Cromwell III of Woodbrook and Irwin D. Cromwell of Sante Fe, N.M.; another daughter, Sally Cromwell Benoist of Paris; a brother, Roswell Colt Dunn of Sarasota, Fla.; 14 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren.