Margaret Ann Piel, a retired high school history teacher, died of breast cancer Sunday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Catonsville resident was 75.
Born Margaret Ann Spicer in Baltimore and raised near Edmondson Village, she was a 1949 graduate of Mount de Sales Academy, where she was valedictorian.
She earned a bachelor's degree in history at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
Mrs. Piel began her teaching career at St. Benedict's parochial school in Southwest Baltimore and then taught history and social studies at Seton Keogh High School, where she retired in 1989.
She remained interested in history and was a Carroll Mansion guide and a Maryland Historical Society volunteer.
She played the piano and belonged to the Elkridge Chorus of the Sweet Adelines, the 40 West Lions Club and a Catonsville charity, the Gateway Club.
Mrs. Piel also enjoyed gardening and staying at her Ocean City home.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. today at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 905 Frederick Road, Catonsville, where she was a member.
Mrs. Piel is survived by her husband of 27 years, Dr. Richard V. Piel, a retired optometrist; two daughters, Mary Kathleen Fischer of Hampstead and Sheila Ann Hanzsche of Westminster; two sons, Thomas David McDermott Jr. of New Oxford, Pa., and Brian William McDermott of Finksburg; four stepsons, Charles R. Piel of Ellicott City, David T, Piel of Columbia, Richard V. Piel Jr. of Catonsville and James P. Piel of Columbia; seven grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.