Margaret Jane Cook, or Peggy, as she liked to be called, died at her home in Northampton on March 2, 2024, surrounded by loving friends and family who will continue to honor her legacy. She was 79 and will be dearly missed by all.

Peg was born in Harrisburg, PA on April 14, 1944, the daughter of Gertrude and Russell Rohrbach. After graduating from John Harris High School in 1962, she attended Lebanon Valley College, graduating in 1966. She moved to Culver City, CA, and then to Suitland, MD, where she pursued her dreams of helping others working as a Social Worker in Child Welfare at the Charles County Department of Social Services. After living in Philadelphia and Perkasie, PA, she ultimately settled in her beloved country home in Northampton. While living there, she worked as a Social Worker for adults with disabilities at ACCESS in Bethlehem and as a Counselor at Lehigh Christian Academy. She also spoke fondly of her time at CCEF, both as an employee and as a student, where she pursued further education in Biblical Counseling, through CCEF and Westminster Theological Seminary.

Anyone who knew Peggy would tell you that she was incredibly thoughtful towards others. On birthdays and holidays, she would always put so much thought into unique, personalized gifts for her friends and family. She loved cooking and baking, and her hospitality to friends and family was legendary. If she remembered you liked some very specific kind of food, she would always have that very thing ready for you during a visit, no matter how obscure. In addition to her generosity, Peggy was known for her warm sense of humor and sharp wit; she loved gregariously reliving funny memories and making new ones to cherish. She was directly responsible for locating several extended family members and organizing a variety of family reunions all over the northeast, establishing wonderful lifelong connections that hadn’t existed until then. Her faith was extremely important to her, and she was a longtime member of Ebenezer Bible Fellowship Church in Bethlehem. An avid history buff, Peggy had a voracious appetite for books and loved watching historical dramas. She also enjoyed working in her garden and filled the deep window sills of her farmhouse with geraniums in winter, to keep flowers in sight all year round. She thoroughly enjoyed travelling, most recently taking several trips to Europe with her daughter. She was an enthusiastic collector of antiques and loved hunting for more items to add to her collection. I mean this quite literally: standing anywhere in her house, if you didn’t know it, you might think you were in an antique shop.

She is survived by her daughter, Susannah Cook of Northampton, PA, her nephew, Eric Rohrbach of New Gloucester, ME, and her grandniece, Sofie Westra, of North Yarmouth, ME. It cannot be said enough how much she doted over and loved Sofie. She is predeceased by her brother, William Rohrbach of North Hero VT, and her niece Kristin Westra, of North Yarmouth, ME.

There will be a private burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in Harrisburg on Friday, March 8. On Saturday, March 9, there will be a luncheon and time of sharing at noon, followed by a celebration of life service at 2 pm, at Ebenezer Bible Fellowship Church, 3100 Hecktown Road in Bethlehem.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, at 1803 East Willow Grove Ave, Glenside, PA, 19038 or https://www.ccef.org/donate.

Funeral Arrangements by The Herron Funeral Home