Margaret Faith (Campbell) Wolverton

Holden/Leicester - Margaret Faith (Campbell), Wolverton, age 86, died on Apr. 30, 2024. She lived in Holden, and before that in Leicester, MA.
Born in St. Paul, MN on Sept. 24, 1937, she was the youngest of six children. She was predeceased by her parents, Harry Linn Campbell and Faith (Welton) Campbell of Oak Park, IL; three brothers, James and his wife Kay of Columbus, Ohio, Donald of Oak Park, IL, and Robert of Walworth, WI; and two sisters, Grace Slinde and her husband Lowell of Walworth, WI, and Ruth Ackerman and her husband Stewart of Honeoye Falls, NY. A son, David Alan Wolverton of Fair Haven, NJ died in 2007.

Margaret is survived by her husband of 64 years. Franklin Bruce Wolverton, and a son, Glen Scott Wolverton and his wife Nina, of Holden, MA, five grandchildren, Sarah, Shawn, Eric, Collin and Joshua of Berlin, MA, several nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews.

Throughout her life, Margaret’s passion was creating artwork. She had art sessions at an art guild in Grand Rapids, MI as a young child; art class at the Art Institute of Chicago in junior high; a PTA scholarship to attend one summer of art classes at the AIC in high school; and an art class at the Art League of Oak Park-River Forest, in addition to drawing and painting classes in high school. She won an Art League scholarship to the college of her choice.

Margaret majored in drawing and painting at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science in Design degree and a Teacher’s Certificate in Art (grades K-12). She received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts Education from Kean College of New Jersey in 1983, and a Certificate in Arts Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA in 1991. She was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society.

During her volunteer and professional life, she was an artist, and an arts advocate, teacher and administrator. As an art teacher in the Napoleon MI School system, she established an art program for junior and senior high school students. As a volunteer, she was the Cultural Interests Chair for the local and state chapters of the American Association of University Women and served as a New Jersey Representative to the National Advocates for the Arts. She was the President of the 500-member New Jersey Designer Craftsmen, a nonprofit organization of professional and amateur craftspeople.

While living in New Jersey she had her own business in Fair Haven, “the idea-syncrasy”, for creative ideas, items and instruction. As part of this work, she did commissions for numerous drawings and paintings of homes and businesses in Monmouth County. While living in California she had an ongoing crafts booth with puppets (finger, hand and marionette types) that she designed and made. In addition, she created life-size soft sculpture “persewns” (sewn people).


She ran art/craft exhibits, fairs and workshops for schools, churches and organizations in New Jersey and California. She directed a religious arts exhibit for the New Jersey Council of Churches Festival of Faith.

Margaret was the executive director of the nonprofit California Crafts Museum at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, CA, followed by being the interim director at the nonprofit American Museum of Quilts & Textiles in San Jose, CA. She helped the Quilt Museum move from a residential area to downtown San Jose where it is now the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.

While her sons were young, her family was very active in a local Methodist church. For vacations, while living in CA, they did a lot of traveling around the state and tent camping in the National Parks. While living in New Jersey as her sons got older, she became a Cub Scout den mother, and helped transport her sons to numerous scout and sports activities.

In her retirement years she did drawings and paintings of a variety of subjects, and exhibited them as a member of the Massasoit Art Guild. She painted murals of local scenes, and sewed quilts and puppets. She also gave art lessons to neighborhood children and her grandchildren. Each Christmas she designed and made greeting cards for her family and friends. Every year she and her husband hand-made greeting cards for each other on birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s Day.

In 2019 she had a retrospective of her artwork at the Gale Free Library, Holden, MA. Exhibited were works from the 1940s to the present. A printed collage showing her lifetime of representative art and craft works was also exhibited at the University of Michigan at that time.

Margaret enjoyed doing crossword puzzles, playing board games and going to the theater with her husband to see movies and plays. She especially liked living in MA to be with her grandchildren while they were growing up.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours from 2 P.M. to 5 P.M. at Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street, Holden on Sunday, May 5, 2024. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (lls.org).