Margaret D. "Mustang Margie" Pearce, a businesswoman who was well known as an activist and Harford County volunteer, died Aug. 17 from cancer at her Belcamp home. She was 72.
"Margie was larger than life," said Carolyn W. Evans, a Bel Air attorney and longtime friend. "She loved life and was a caring, giving person — and kind of sassy, but fun-loving. I used to tell her that she was my idol."
"She had such a magnetic personality and was the most entertaining person I've ever met," said Martha "Boo" Chrismer, executive director of the Sharon Ann Grose Educational Group Inc., based in Lutherville.
The daughter of Charles Edward Pfister, a B&O Railroad car inspector, and Mildred Virginia Mister Pfister, a homemaker, Margaret Darlene Pfister was born in Baltimore and raised on Foster Avenue and North Rose Street.
From the time she was 14 to 16, she danced each day on WJZ-TV's "The Buddy Deane Show."
She was a Patterson High School graduate. In 1967 she married Russell Earl "Pete" Pearce, who owned Central Auto Service in the 3300 block of E. Fayette St.
In 1977, the couple built their dream home with a swimming pool in Fallston, where they raised their two daughters.
After her husband died unexpectedly in 1994, Ms. Pearce found herself running the business.
"Everything changed. I found myself running a transmission business, and fighting to keep everything together," Ms. Pearce told Harford Style Magazine in an interview last year.
"I tapped into every resource I had. My East Baltimore stubbornness kicked in … and there was no way I was going to fail," she said.
She sold the business a year later. Desiring to earn a college degree, she enrolled in 1997 at Goucher College in Towson and obtained a bachelor's degree in women's studies in 2001.
After graduating from Goucher, she volunteered to develop a mentoring program for older women who were returning to college after raising their children or working.
She then took a job at the Small Business Development Center, where she advised women in all dimensions of running a business. In 2004, she joined another group, Open Doors, and worked with pregnant teenagers and displaced homemakers, and trained volunteers from the community.
From 2009 until retiring last year, Ms. Pearce worked with Harford County public schools' Reconnecting Youth Dropout Recovery Program.
"We help disadvantaged youth in the county who, for no fault of their own, have dropped out of school," Ms. Pearce said in the magazine interview. "We help them get their GEDs and, with a lot of counseling, mentoring and hand-holding, we provide them with total support. This is a difficult undertaking for them and we are there every step of the way."
The program also assists with driver's education and extensive resources to help students get and keep a job.
"She'd go over to [students'] houses on Saturday morning and get them out of bed so they could get their driver's license," Ms. Evans said. "She really loved those kids."
From 2011 to 2015, she was a case manager for the Sharon Ann Grose Educational Group Inc. — also known as SAGE. There, according to Ms. Chrismer, she helped "at-risk youth in Harford County obtain their educational and vocational goals."
"She was a wonderful mentor for those young people in that she shared her personal experiences, understanding and great sense of humor with each of them," Ms. Chrismer said.
"They all respected and loved her for everything that she helped them accomplish," she said. "For some, she was a life-changer — as she was for everyone who knew her."
Ms. Pearce was a blithe spirit and a ubiquitous presence in Harford County, often seen at the wheel of her yellow 1966 Ford Mustang convertible.
She was a founding member of the Southern Harford Rotary and served on board of the Maryland Conservatory of Music and the Chesapeake Professional Women's Network. She was a member of the Bel Air Downtown Alliance and Toastmaster's International.
She was a volunteer at the Harford Habit for Humanity, AmeriCorps and Vista. She was also an accomplished fundraiser and last year raised $37,500 for the local YMCA and $41,150 for the Maryland Conservatory of Music.
Ms. Pearce was a longtime member of the Paint and Powder Club, which held an annual variety show raising money for local charities. She had served as vice president and president of the organization, and was the third women in its 122-year history to sit on its board.
In the club's 2007 production, Ms. Pearce starred in a sketch called "Mustang Margie," a lavish song-and-dance routine that was set in a gas station garage and included a yellow 1966 Mustang. That performance was the genesis of her nickname, family members said.
"After her husband died, she rebuilt her life, and she was living proof that when you reached your 50s or 60s, life isn't over," Ms. Evans said. "She traveled, worked hard for her community and had fun. The things she want to do, she did. Plus, she had a broad network of friends."
A celebration of Ms. Pearce's life will be held from 1 p.m to 4 p.m. Wednesday at Water's Edge Events Center, 4687 Millennium Drive, Belcamp.
Ms. Pearce is survived by her two daughters, Ericka E. Pearce of Charlottesville, Va., and Melinda Pearce Tindell of Locust Point.