Margaret (Marge) Grills of Rapidan, VA passed away peacefully on December 1, 2022 at the UVA University Hospital in Charlottesville, VA after suffering a stroke on November 18. Her family is deeply saddened by her passing and was with her throughout her time in the ICU. Marge was born on the family farm in Lowell, IN on June 14, 1937, the daughter of Harold and Lillian Sutton. It was her beginnings on the farm that sparked her lifelong passion for gardening, maintaining exquisite flower gardens, vegetable gardens and herb gardens throughout her lifetime. Her life in Lowell also provided her with a love of music, after she had completed almost 14 years of piano lessons there. She left Lowell shortly after high school and ventured to Chicago, where she worked as an executive assistant and took classes at the Art Institute in the downtown of the city. It was there that she met the love of her life, Joe Grills, who was pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago. They fell in love and were married for 64 years. Joe and Marge moved to Scott Air Force base in IL where they had their first child, Craig in 1960. After serving there for three years, Joe began his long and distinguished career at IBM. Joe’s first job with the company required a move to Dallas, where their second son, Doug was born in 1962. Fortunately, a series of New York area jobs followed, which allowed them to move to CT in 1966, where they resided for over 30 years, the first seven in Stamford, where their third son, Jeff was born in 1972, with the balance of those years spent in their adopted home of New Canaan, CT. In Stamford, they met a circle of friends consisting of nine families in their neighborhood and in the surrounding area, with whom they would cultivate deep and abiding friendships that would endure for the rest of their lives. These families took summer beach vacations together in Ocean City, MD, enjoyed playing tennis when they found the time, and engaged in a constant variety of social activities. Marge was focused on raising her three young boys, helping them with their studies, shuttling them to practices and ballgames in the summer, music lessons throughout the year, and teaching them how to ice skate during the winter months on a small pond located in front of their home. She had inherited outstanding cooking skills from her mother, which she went on to develop further, preparing savory and delicious meals for her family and always providing them with a variety of foods and baked goods to enjoy throughout the year. The family moved to New Canaan in 1973, and as the boys grew older, Marge was able to pursue other interests that would provide her with tremendous joy and satisfaction. Her artistic and creative ability led to her love of needlepoint, and there was an extremely prolific period in the mid-to-late 1970’s during which Marge needlepointed pillows, rugs, Christmas stockings, wall hangings and even seat cushions for her formal dining room chairs (10 of them). She always took care to needlepoint her initials into every piece and included the date of the work, perhaps as an homage to her artistic roots back in Chicago. Marge and Joe’s time in CT also allowed them to frequent Broadway shows in New York City, spawning a great love of musicals and showtunes that would endure for a lifetime. Marge regularly attended the United Methodist Church of New Canaan, volunteering her time to charitable pursuits like driving Meals on Wheels each week to elderly residents living in the community. She also shared her talents and passion for arts and crafts by teaching macramé to students at the local YMCA. Joe’s career path began to include international responsibilities that necessitated he travel the world, requiring him to visit over 70 countries. Marge accompanied him to over half of those destinations. While Joe attended to the work at hand during the day, Marge would be free to explore and visit the sites and attractions that the host city had to offer. Through either business or personal trips, Marge was able to visit the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, the Great Wall of China (twice), and the Mediterranean region, from Rome to Istanbul to Lisbon, to name only a few. Together, Marge and Joe cultivated many new friendships in New Canaan through their continued interest in tennis, the people they met in their neighborhood and at various social functions, the people who Joe met through his work, and of course, people they met at their local church. After their boys finished high school and college and Joe retired from IBM at the conclusion of a 32-year career, Marge and Joe made the decision to move to farmland they purchased in Rapidan, VA in 1997, building the home of their dreams there. The property was on the Rapidan River and offered breathtaking views of the surrounding Virginia foothills. Although they didn’t work the farmland personally, the property continued to be used for raising cattle and crops, producing an ongoing cycle of planting and harvest that would carry on throughout Marge’s time there. It no doubt allowed her to feel like she had returned to her childhood beginnings, with all of its activities and experiences, each one serving as a daily reminder of her connection to the land. In this new setting, Marge had a great deal more room for her foundation plantings, vegetable gardens, herb gardens and more. She joined the Garden Club of America, at one point serving as a zone representative during her tenure, the Garden Club of Virginia, and the Dolley Madison Garden Club, where she served a term as the organization’s President. While moving to this more rural part of the state brought with it a degree of uncertainty about developing new social connections and friendships, they learned quickly that there was a vibrant and engaging network of people that they would come to meet, forging yet another set of deep lifelong relationships in the local community. Marge and Joe regularly attended the nearby Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapidan, where they developed even more personal connections. In addition, they were now able to provide significant support for a variety of philanthropic interests, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Woodberry Forest School, the Piedmont Environmental Council, James Madison’s Montpelier and a myriad of other very worthy causes. Through all of her years in Virginia, Marge never lost her zest for life, digging in the dirt during every hot VA summer to nurture and grow her plants and flowers, enjoying the scenic beauty of their property and spending as much time as she could with Joe, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our memories of Marge will include her working in her gardens daily, enjoying a crisp Chardonnay or fullbodied Pinot Noir almost nightly, listening to the music she loved, sitting on her back deck screened-in porch where she could enjoy a meal with family or friends or simply listen to the rainfall - all the while relishing the sounds and smells that she so adored out in the country and on her farm. We will always miss her beautiful smile and her graceful presence in all our lives, and she will remain forever in our hearts. In addition to her parents, Marge was predeceased by a brother, Dave Sutton (Pat). She is survived by her husband, Joe Grills, her son, Craig Grills (Tamar) of Tampa, FL and their daughters, Maddie Grills and Victoria Grills; her son Doug Grills (Wendy) of Clifton, VA and their son, Tyler Grills of San Francisco, CA and their daughter, Rachel Taylor (Chris) of Darien, CT, who are the parents of Marge’s two great-granddaughters, Maisie Taylor and Emmy Taylor; her son Jeff Grills (Tracey) of Darien, CT and their son, Jack Grills and their daughter, Devan Grills; and one brother, John Sutton (Carole) of Lowell, IN. A service to celebrate Marge’s life will be held at the Woodberry Forest Chapel in Woodberry, VA on Saturday, December 17 at 10AM with a reception to follow. Donations in lieu of flowers should be made in Marge’s memory to University of Virginia, Attn: Health Foundation, 2420 Old Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904, Designated to: Stroke Center (10011), IMO Marge Grills.