Margaret Blauvelt Hellings

Peggy – 8th Grade Graduation 1944

A very beloved generous wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend passed away July 20th, 2017 while at her home at the Gardens Senior Living Residence in Bellevue, WA. after a very short battle with lung cancer.

Peggy was born September 27, 1930 in Nyack, NY to Florence (Brennan) and Bradford Blauvelt and grew up in the shadows of New York City, in Congers NY with her brother Bradford Blauvelt.

Peggy graduated in from Congers High School in 1948. Peggy loved music, dancing, movies, Girl Scouts and hanging out to play piano with her friends Shirley Williams and June DeBaun.

She was a cheerleader at Congers High School and that’s where she first met her future husband Cliff. They married September 26th 1953.

Peggy -Hampton Beach RI ’49

Peg attended nursing school in NYC after high school and earned her LPN accreditation. After a short stint at Caledonia Hospital (Brooklyn, NY) she found her niche as a visiting nurse helping new mothers with their babies.

Peg and Cliff raised their family of three boys not far from her childhood home in Bardonia NY.  There, Peg established neighborhood roots with families up and down the street including her lifelong friend Gerry Sarantapoulas and her awesome family.

The Hellings family became completely immersed in youth ice hockey and spent much of their time traveling around the NY tristate area attending practices and games; so much so that both Peggy and Cliff took up jobs at the local hockey rink on weekends.  Summer days were spent at the cabin in White Lake, NY where boating, water-skiing and relaxing were the order of the day.  Sharing the Skip Inn cabin with friends and family always made the summers fun and interesting.

Cliff and Peggy moved to Montague, NJ in 1980 in anticipation of Cliff’s retirement. Peggy developed great new friends and opened a craft store there named Hearts Desire. Peg also joined the First Presbyterian church in Port Jervis NY.

In 2006 Cliff and Peg moved cross country to Bellevue be closer to family. They spent their time together gardening, watching old movies and figuring out the best spots for their daily trips to lunch. Burgermaster was the clear winner!

Peg moved into the Gardens senior living community shortly after Cliff passed away in 2012.

She called her new home “the cruise ship that never leaves the dock” and loved everything about the place; the residents, the staff and all the fun activities. She was an avid knitter and led the Knit Witt group which produced an amazing number of items that were donated to local charities.  She also participated in the resident newspaper and never missed a chance to go on a lunch outing or even just s sightseeing trip on the bus.

Peggy loved a good movie, an old song, loved to play the organ and was on a lifelong search for the perfect cup of coffee (with cream and sugar of course!).

Peggy was predeceased by her husband Cliff, her brother Bradford Blauvelt and her oldest son Chris. She is survived by her sons Clifford Hellings III (Salt Lake City, UT), Carl Hellings and wife Jolie (Lenehan) Hellings (Yarrow Point, WA). She also leaves behind seven grandchildren: Simone Hellings (Suffern, NY), Brennan Hellings (Bremerton, WA), Clifford, Alex and Lavender Hellings (Salt Lake City, Utah), Christopher and Sam Hellings (Yarrow Point, WA).  Peggy also leaves her in-laws Carol and Larry Ritter (Suffern, NY) and wonderful nieces and nephews Rick, Diane Tricia (Frank) and Randy Ritter. She is survived by three great-grandchildren Claudia and Akai Hellings (Suffern NY) and Opal Hellings (Salt Lake City, UT).

Memorial services will be held at 10am September 22, 2017 at the Garden’s at Town Square in Bellevue, followed by family interment services alongside Cliff at the US Veteran’s Cemetery in Tahoma WA.

In lieu of flowers, Memorial contributions may be made to The Sophia Way (a shelter for homeless women here in Bellevue WA).

The Sophia Way
11061 NE 2nd Street, Suite 223
Bellevue, WA 98004