Margaret Bost

Margaret Martha Vedder Bost, 92, of Hickory, died Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017, at Hospice of Catawba Valley after a brief illness.
Margaret was born Oct. 26, 1924, in Hartford, Conn., to the late German immigrants Otto and Martha Vedder. After graduation from Bulkeley High School she worked in insurance, then attended Lenoir-Rhyne College, where she earned an A.B. in English and Social Studies in 1947. She was active in campus life including Future Teachers of America, Pi Kappa Delta forensics honor society, Alpha Tau Kappa society for communications excellence, and the Lutheran Students Association. An intercollegiate debater and oratorical contest winner, she was named to Who’s Who in American Universities & Colleges and voted “Most Intellectual” in her class.
Margaret taught at Maiden Elementary and the Brookford School and served as Financial Secretary at First Presbyterian Church in Hickory. A member of AAUW, she was adviser to the Clergyettes club for future pastors’ wives at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, served as a docent at the Deschler-Morris Germantown White House in Philadelphia, and was active in the Hannah Circle of the WELCA at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Hickory.
Margaret served as First Lady and gracious hostess at three Lutheran institutions where her husband was President: Lenoir-Rhyne, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and Newberry College. At various times she lived and worshipped in Hartford and New Haven, Conn.; Columbia, Newberry, Myrtle Beach and Spartanburg, S.C.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Raleigh, Boone, Maiden, Salisbury, Newton and Hickory, N.C.
Married to Dr. Raymond Morris Bost for over 69 years, Margaret was the mother of four children, Timothy Lee Bost of Palmetto, Fla., Penelope Bost Schrum of Lincolnton, Peter Raymond Bost of Hickory, and Jonathan Otto Bost (now deceased). She is survived by her husband and three eldest children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.     A memorial service for Margaret Bost will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Hickory. The family will receive friends at the church prior to the service, and asks that in lieu of flowers memorial gifts be made to St. Andrew’s, Hospice of Catawba Valley, or the Raymond M. Bost Distinguished Professor endowment at Lenoir-Rhyne. Please sign the online guestbook at www.jenkinsfuneralhome.net. The Bost family has entrusted arrangements to Jenkins Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Newton 828-464-1555.