Margaret Kelleher

Margaret W. Kelleher Margaret W. Kelleher, of Bloomfield Hills, MI, died at the age of 91 on October 27, 2010, in Gulf Breeze, FL. with her daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and Kurt Overlade at her side. Margaret was born May 14, 1919, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was the daughter of Harlow Olin Whittemore and Helen Case Whittemore. Margaret graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1937. She received her BFA from the School of Architecture and Design, University of Michigan in 1941, when she was also the principal graphic designer for the yearbook the Michigan Ensign. In June 1941, she married William W. Lyman Jr. She lived on Staten Island and in Connecticut and worked as a draftsman at Electric Boat in New London, CT, tracing drawings for submarine designs. They raised their young family in Cambridge, MA from 1947 to 1953, then moved to Michigan in 1953, living in Ann Arbor, Grosse Pointe Park, and then settling in Birmingham in 1955. Margaret lived in the same home until 2010 when she moved to Gulf Breeze, FL, to be cared for by her youngest daughter Patricia and her husband Kurt Overlade. Margaret was a painter, and was frequently recognized for her talents, particularly her water colors. For many years she was an active member of the Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center, where she juried and installed exhibitions, and taught art to children and teens. She was an active member of the Michigan Watercolor Society, Birmingham Women Painters, and the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, where she was a prize winner, and also served as their president from 1990-92. She exhibited frequently with these groups and also at the venerable Scarab Club, where she received a prize in painting. Margaret particularly enjoyed a painting trip to Southern Italy to study watercolor with Mary Jane Bigler. She returned to school and completed her MFA at Wayne State University in the early 1970s, and taught elementary art in the public schools in Kenton, Ohio, from 1973-77. Margaret also exhibited for 5 or 6 years with "Six Directions", a group of artists' friends who painted and exhibited together around the state. Her children remember the regular live model drawing sessions and critiques in their home. Some of them stepped in as models on occasion. Margaret enjoyed swimming (she was an active member of the Forest Hills Swim Club in Birmingham for nearly 50 years), baking, gardening and trees, classical music (she attended concerts of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra regularly), and spending time with her large family. She had a great sense of humor and positive attitude and was welcoming and very kind to all. Margaret's second marriage was to William Kelleher in 1977. They were happily married for 23 years, when he pre-deceased her in 2000. Margaret is survived by her 6 children, Cheryl Mack, Indianapolis IN; Steven C. Lyman (Eileen), Trenton MI; Philip W. Lyman, Ashland OR; Susan Lyman, Provincetown MA; Donna Lyman, Ashland OR; Patricia Overlade (Kurt), Gulf Breeze FL; 13 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren with 2 more expected. She is also survived by brothers and sisters: Hal Whittemore (Doris), Agoura CA; Jean Sharp, Harbert MI; Dorothy Ross, Walnut Creek CA; and Bruce Whittemore (Keren), Seattle WA. A memorial service to celebrate Margaret's life will be held in Ann Arbor, MI in spring 2011. Contributions can be made in her memory to Covenant Hospice, Attention: Donor Services, 5041 N. 12th Avenue, Pensacola, FL 32504.

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