Obituaries

Margaret D. Laudieri Dykstra

November 7, 1919 - April 11, 2016

Burial Date April 16, 2016

10 to 12 PM 4/16/2016

Margaret “Dink” Laudieri, formerly of Mystic and Chester, Connecticut, died peacefully in Groton, CT on April 11, 2016. She was 96.

She was the wife of the late Lt. Colonel Mario Frank Laudieri. She was born Margaret Josephine Dykstra to Oscar and Jacomina (Okkerse) Dykstra on November 7, 1919, in Wakefield, RI, and became known as “Dink” after a character she played in a sixth grade performance.

She graduated from Sayville, NY high school in 1937, and with high honors from the University of Connecticut in 1942 with a degree in home economics education. After teaching for three years, Margaret spent decades as an Army wife, starting a family, and living in Japan, Germany and numerous cities in the U.S.

During her lifetime, she involved herself in charitable and community organizations such as the Red Cross and her local churches, and enjoyed participating in school and church musical activities.

Margaret is best known for her lifelong service to the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. She joined her first troop on Long Island, NY, in 1929, and her membership spanned 85 years. She received the highest award in Girl Scouting in 1937, the Golden Eaglet. While abroad, she was Commissioner of southern Germany, acting as a liaison between German and American girl scouts and leaders. For six months in the 1960s, she was president of the Burlington County Council in New Jersey.

After moving back to Connecticut in 1966, she joined the Connecticut Trails Council and served as president from 1973 to 1979, continuing her service after that as a fundraiser and contributor to special projects for the National Organization. Until a fall in 2009 resulted in her confinement to a nursing home for the last 6 years of her life, she continued to meet with former Golden Eaglets and past GSUSA presidents. It brought her great joy to work with early pioneers in women’s leadership. On September 12, 2012, Margaret was one of twenty-seven Distinguished Alumnae honored by the Girl Scouts of Connecticut at their Centennial Gala to recognize 100 Women of Merit.

Margaret valued moments of camaraderie with friends and staff at Chester Village West where she had lived from 2000-2009. She spent her life appreciating the natural world, learning about the birds and flowers in the many places where she lived. She always carried a book to read and educated those around her through her quiet influence.

While words cannot express all that she contributed to her friends, family and community, and her willingness to offer kind words or a heartfelt hug when needed, her lasting spirit will be cherished by those who knew her.

Margaret is survived by her son Maj. Peter C. Laudieri (USAF Ret.) of Fairborn, OH; daughter Susan L. Kraynak of East Lyme, CT; daughter Linda J. Laudieri of Albuquerque, NM; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Calling Hours will be held on Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm followed by a funeral home service at Impellitteri-Malia Funeral Home, 84 Montauk Ave., New London, CT. Interment in Elm Grove Cemetery, 197 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, CT.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Girl Scouts of Connecticut, 340 Washington Street, Hartford, CT 06106.