Margaret Merwin (Joys) Clothier

Margaret Merwin Clothier passed away on January 14, 2025, at her home in Wonalancet after a period of declining health. Marge, as she was known, was born in New York City on February 26, 1947, to the late Robert Brownell Joys, Sr., and Dorothy (Zeisler) Joys.

She graduated from Pine Plains High School in New York, and from Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY. She studied art education at SUNY New Paltz, where she met her husband and best friend of 58 years, James George Clothier (Jim) after advertising on the bulletin board in College Union Hall for a ride home from school on the weekend.

She resided with Jim and their two sons in Millbrook, NY, before moving to Martha’s Vineyard in 1986. In 2002, she and Jim retired from the island to the cabin they built together on Mount Mexico in Wonalancet, NH.

Marge was a substitute teacher in the Millbrook, NY, schools and a tutor at the Oak Bluffs School before becoming the assistant librarian at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

She loved her family, friends, the woods, reading, crossword puzzles, Coca Cola, Converse sneakers, and campfires.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Jim; her sons Dr. James George Clothier, Jr. of Ridgewood, NJ; John Merwin Clothier, Esq. of Telluride, CO; their wives Elizabeth and Kristen; and her two granddaughters Abigail and Helen.

There will be no funeral, no calling hours, and please no flowers – only wonderful memories. Marge’s family hopes you can gather with them for drinks and a campfire on Mexico Mountain after the winter.

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