Margaret Mary "Peg" Bunker

You don’t meet an everyday saint every day. Anyone who knew Peg Bunker, though, knew they were in the presence of one. Peg simply served others in her lifelong devotion to faith, family, and all of God’s creation (including plush toy geese).

Margaret Mary “Peg” Bunker, 84, went home to Heaven on November 18, 2022, joining her parents, Dewey and Ellie Bunker. Peg is survived by her brother Eugene (the late Dolores) Bunker, her sister Joyce (the late Tony) Vogel, and twelve devoted nephews and nieces. The six Bunkers include David (Alice), Tom (Sally), Sue O’Keefe, Greg (LaVon), Joe (Carolyn) and Jane (Joseph Sullivan); and the six Vogels are Francis (Carol Lynn Wandler), Mary Margaret, Peter (Tawnya Rush), Marty (Tammy), Ben (Lesley) and Ann (Micah Digman). A host of grandnieces, grandnephews, other family, friends, former colleagues, parishioners, and friends of Bill W. also mourn Peg’s passing.

Peg was born in Neenah on August 15, 1938, graduated from Neenah High School, attended Marquette University, and became a Maryknoll Sisters novitiate before discerning that the religious life was not her calling. Instead, Peg became an indispensable part of Joyce and Eugene’s families while working full-time in various office positions. Along the way, Peg lived in Chicago, where she was active in the civil rights movement; Minneapolis; Waltham, Massachusetts; and Appleton, where she was employed at the Whiting Paper Company for 29 years before retiring in 2000. Her retirement years included serving as a cook for her parish priest at St. Bernadette’s, lectoring at daily Mass and fielding visits galore from family and friends.

Peg’s indomitable work ethic and dedication to service above self were matched by her love of travel and adventure. Whether traveling to Door County with her parents, hiking the mountains in Colorado, making cross-country trips with seven grand nieces and nephews, visiting the Big Apple or Canada with nieces, or cooking at a ranch two memorable summers in Alaska, Peg was an intrepid soul. Who else would give their nephew a baby boa constrictor for a birthday gift?

The Funeral Mass for Peg will take place on Saturday, November 26, at St. Bernadette Parish, located at 2331 E. Lourdes Dr. in Appleton. Visitation is 9 – 11 a.m. followed by Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will take place at St. Margaret Mary Cemetery, Neenah on Monday, November 28, at 8am. Memorials may be made to the Maryknoll Sisters or the food pantry of your choice. A special thanks to the staff of the Appleton Retirement Community and Moments Hospice Care for their loving care of Peg.

In her handwritten “Life’s Little Lessons,” Peg wrote, “the only thing that matters is LOVE, love of God, love of others…and love of self.” Moreover, we need peace and serenity in our heart and head, and it’s up to us to achieve it. “None of this is easy. I fail often during the day and must begin again,” Peg noted.  “But if at night when I take my inventory, there are more pluses than minuses, it has been a good day…I thank God!” We thank God we knew Peg.

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