Margaret Marston Lott

For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked.  For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.  Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight — but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.  Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

2 Corinthians 5:1-9

Margaret Marston Lott

Peggy Lott – a woman who served Jesus Christ her whole life – died of natural causes on May 11, 2022 at 101 years of age.  Peggy was known for how she touched the lives of many in the Upper Valley of El Paso, Texas – especially children during her lifetime of teaching in public schools and in Upper Valley church Sunday School programs.  She and her husband Ellison were known throughout El Paso for their singing, and Peggy’s beautiful soprano voice graced church worship services, weddings, and funerals over many decades.  One of her grandchildren described her as a woman who enjoyed life, and who gave to us the perfect example of a gracious, loving, and thankful heart.

She is now joyfully reunited in Heaven with her wonderful husband, Thomas Ellison Lott, who preceded her in death in 1997, and with her granddaughter, Lynn Stewart Miller (2014).  She is also preceded in death by her daughter-in-law, Betty Lott; her former son-in-law, Jack Stewart; her sister, Aileen Marston Stembridge and husband Vernie; her brother, Richard Marston, and by her parents, Samuel Shirley Marston and Edna Holt Marston.

Peggy is survived by her sister-in-law, Nellie Mulhern Marston; and by her children – Linda Beth Lott Stewart of Albuquerque, Thomas E. Lott, Jr and his wife Gail of Bossier City, LA, and J. Sam Lott and his wife Ellen of Houston.  She is also survived by her grandchildren; David Stewart and his wife Carol Beth, Davant Stewart and his wife Deanna, Amye Lott Wilson and her husband Reid, Jeremy Lott and his wife Martie, Allison Lott and her fiancé Levi Clyde, Sharon Lott Graham and her husband Michael, Jordan Lott and his wife Lisa, and her deceased granddaughter Lynn’s husband, Ken Miller.

She loved caring for her flowers and her grandchildren.  Her beautiful backyard was always graced by flower beds.  And her adult grandchildren remember her backyard as a place of adventure – complete with playhouse and tire swing – and her home as a place of rest and comfort.  She has been lovingly known to her many great grandchildren as Great Grandma Lott, and her hand-made stuffed-animal rabbits can be found in many of their bedrooms.

Peggy’s life was always dedicated to serving God through her church, and she was greatly influenced by her grandfather, Rev. Arthur Marston who was a Methodist minister in churches throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico during the 1890s and early 1900s.  She attended Asbury Methodist Church near 5 Points during her childhood where her father Shirley was Treasurer, while her grandfather Rev. Marston pastored the Spanish speaking church nearby, Iglesia Metodista Mexicana – East El Paso.

Following her marriage in 1942 to Ellison Lott who was from a prominent family in El Paso’s Upper Valley farming community, she became a member of Mount Franklin Baptist Church – co-founded by Ellison’s parents, Sam J. and Ida Wallace Lott.  She remained a faithful member of Mt. Franklin until she moved to live with her daughter in Albuquerque in 2013.  While living in Albuquerque during the last ten years of her life, she was a member of Hoffmantown Baptist Church.  As a life-long teacher of children, Peggy taught 4th grade at Roberts Elementary School in the Upper Valley during the 1960s and 70s and she led the children’s Sunday School department at Mount Franklin Baptist Church for more than 30 years.

Visitation with the family will be held in Albuquerque on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the FRENCH - Lomas.  A Graveside Service will be held in El Paso preceding her interment beside her beloved husband Ellison at Memory Gardens of the Valley Cemetery (4900 McNutt Road, Santa Teresa, NM). Beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 20, 2022, the brief graveside service will be led by her son Tom Lott, with family members and friends enjoying the beauty of the burial location overlooking the Upper Valley and the Franklin Mountains that Peggy so dearly loved.  A Memorial Service in Albuquerque will be scheduled later in 2022.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Paisano Baptist Encampment (http://www.paisanoencampment.org), Samaritan’s Purse (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/), or to a Christian missionary organization of your choice.

The family would also like to thank the caregivers and the director, David Apodaca at Buena Vista Senior Care, and the doctor, nurses and chaplain from Hospice de la Luz who skillfully and lovingly cared for Peggy during the final months of her life.