Margaret Pottenger OBITUARY

The street lamps of Old Town Tustin lost their brightest light when Margaret Pottenger, 94, passed away on March 12, 2024. Born December 15, 1929 in Pasadena, California, Margaret grew up in the hills of rural Monrovia in the shadows of her family’s hospital and tuberculosis sanatorium. Much to her mother’s consternation, she loved to ride her horse all over the San Gabriel Valley after dark, and she even once rode her horse around the racetrack at Santa Anita. Along with her siblings Francis, Barbara and Samuel, she milked cows, worked in the sanatorium kitchen, and assisted in her father’s laboratory. His medical research studies regarding asthma and nutrition required the siblings to dispatch and dissect hundreds of cats, but the research led to landmark discoveries of how highly-processed foods cause generational harm to the body.After graduation from Monrovia Arcadia Duarte High School and Stanford University, Margaret decided to embark upon a career in retail. In 1955, she arrived in Santa Ana where she became a clothes buyer for Rankins Dry Goods Store. Soon, she yearned to open her own retail store, and she fell in love with a cute little red building on the old El Camino Real. Built in 1885 as the office of Tustin’s first physician and across the road from the popular Prescott Ranch Market, in 1959 it was reborn as The Jabberwocky, Elegant Apparel for Young Ladies. Margaret’s trademark marketing style featured the use of cardboard cut-out dolls and all of her newspaper ads showcased the latest fashions as “tabbed” paper doll clothes, all drawn by Margaret herself.Margaret’s reputation for style, quality and personal service flourished, with Margaret doing all her own merchandising, buying and even alterationsincluding the voluminous prom gowns for which she was renowned. She created the first high school Teen Board in Orange County, and her fashion shows were legendary. One year, she hired a “groovy” new bandThe Beach Boysto perform at her show! In 1977, she opened a second Jabberwocky location in Enderle Center. Years later, after closing her stores, Margaret worked for Tustin Community Bank in their collections department.Busy though she always was with her retail business, Margaret devoted many hours as a volunteer for civic and philanthropic endeavors. She assumed leadership of the Miss Tustin Pageant in 1959, was named the first female board member of the Tustin Chamber of Commerce in 1960 and served on civic committees responsible for planting trees downtown and rebranding D Street as El Camino Real. Margaret was a member of the Santa Ana Soroptimists since 1955, serving twice as president, and was a long-time member and past president of the Orange County Branch of the American Lung Association. She was an avid member of the Stanford Book Club of Orange County for over 50 years. Margaret holds the distinction of being the longest-serving American Red Cross blood bank volunteer in Orange Countyover 57 years. She also personally donated over a gallon of her own blood! Margaret was honored to be named Tustin’s first-ever Woman of the Year in 1966 and was the American Association of University Women’s ‘Woman of Distinction” in 1989.Indulging her love for the arts, Margaret relished her 23-year tenure as an usher for the Orange County Center for the Performing Arts, and for years delighted in rooting for her beloved Angels while ushering at Anaheim Stadium. She was a long-time member of the Tustin Area Historical Society, and loved to volunteer as a docent, visiting local schools dressed as “The Farmer’s Wife of Tustin.” For almost 20 years, she volunteered for the Tustin Home Tours, the Orange County Election Board, and for the Friends of the Library. And no one could forget her famous mint julep parties in her garden where she drew together diverse local folks whom she felt would enjoy each other or benefit from meeting. Margaret spread an aura of warmth, laughter, charm and community wherever she walked, and truly was Tustin’s most devoted and tireless booster and our beloved aunt. Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, Francis M. Pottenger Jr. and Elizabeth Saxour Pottenger; her brothers Samuel (Rowena) and Francis III (Larma) and sister Barbara Shumar (James); grandnephew James Grant Shumar; and great-grandniece Shaundi Adrian Mann. She is survived by her nephews James Shumar, Jr. (Jennifer), Robert Shumar (Beth), Francis Jeffery Pottenger (Lois), M. Tyler Pottenger (Faith), Marcus Pottenger (Gail), and Samuel Pottenger (Amy), nieces Nancy Shumar, Margaret Peterson (Jeff), Mary Hockaday (Robert), Veronica Becker- Wilkie (Dick), and scores of grand and great grandnephews and nieces.A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 25, from 4-6pm at Saddleback Chapel, 220 E. Main Street, Tustin, 92780. Burial will be private. Donations may be made in Margaret’s name to the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Arrangements by Saddleback Chapel, Tustin