Marjorie Elizabeth Peale

Marjorie Elizabeth Peale of Charleston, age 96, died Thursday, April 28, 2011, at Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community.  Miss Peale, educator and artist born June 20, 1914, was the daughter of the late Charles Furman Peale and Elizabeth Cope Peale.  Her brother, Charles Hubert Peale, preceded her in death.

Miss Peale was a graduate of Memminger High School and the College of Charleston (1936) where she was a member of Sigma Alpha Phi, an honorary scholastic fraternity recognizing academic excellence. She received her Master's degree in English from Duke University in 1941.  Her field of study was Southern Literature and her master's thesis, "Charleston as a Literary Center, 1920-1933," has been placed in the libraries of Duke University, Charleston Southern University, the College of Charleston, the University of South Carolina, Vanderbilt University, the Charleston County Public Library, and the Charleston Library Society.  It was published in book form in 2001 entitled The Charleston Literary Renaissance, The Golden Years: 1920-1933. Miss Peale taught in elementary and high schools in Columbia, Walterboro, Charleston, and one year in the state of Hawaii.  On the college level she taught extension courses in Freshman English for Florida State University, served as part-time professor of English at the College of Charleston and was appointed full-time Assistant Professor of English at Charleston Southern University.

Over the years Miss Peale served as president of the Central Council of Charleston Teachers, as secretary of the Charleston County Education Association and was initiated into Beta Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, a society that honors women who have given distinctive service in the field of education.  Miss Peale was recognized as the College of Charleston's Distinguished Alumna of the Year in November 2001.  She established scholarships at Charleston Southern University and the College of Charleston.

As an artist Miss Peale exhibited her oils and watercolors locally at the Dock Street Theatre, the City Gallery, the Custom House, the Broad Street First Savings and Loan, the Church Street Sidewalk Show and in the courtyard of Huguenot Heritage Hall on Queen Street.  She also exhibited her paintings at the University of South Carolina in the McKissick Museum in Columbia.  She served as president of the Charleston Artists' Guild in 1977-1978 and again in 1987-1988 and coordinated the first Art Exhibit for the French Protestant (Huguenot) Church of Charleston in 1993, 1994, and 1995.

Miss Peale was proud of her former students, many who became teachers, school principals, headmasters, English Department Chairmen, professors of English, poets, authors, journalists and critics.  She will be greatly missed by the Charleston community.

Friends are invited to attend her memorial service in the chapel at Bishop Gadsden on Friday afternoon, May 20, 2011, at 2: 00.   A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Bishop Gadsden Resident Assistance Fund, One Bishop Gadsden Way, Charleston, SC 29412; The College of Charleston Alumni Association, 18 Bull Street, Charleston, SC 29424; or to The French Protestant (Huguenot) Church, 44 Queen Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Downtown Chapel.