Obituary of Margaret "Peggy" Kovacevich

 

Peggy Kovacevich passed away on Saturday evening, July 28, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri. The wife of the late John Dewey Kovacevich and mother of the late Major John Dewey Kovacevich Jr. (USMC), she was a lifelong resident of Chattanooga and moved two years ago to St. Louis to be near her daughter and grandson.

 

Born Margaret Crossland McMillin, she was a descendant of Robert Cravens, one of Chattanooga’s earliest industrialists, and the daughter of the late Mrs. and Mrs. Edwyn West (Margaret Davies) McMillin. After graduating from Stuart Hall in Staunton, Virginia, she attended the University of Chattanooga where she was a cheerleader and member of Chi Omega, and later graduated from Tobe-Coburn School for Fashion Careers in New York City and Patricia Stevens Modeling School in Atlanta, Georgia. Peggy headed the Fashion Training Program at Rich’s in Atlanta before returning to Chattanooga where she worked as an assistant buyer at Loveman’s and then at Miller Bros. as Chattanooga’s first fashion coordinator. She was a fourth grade teacher at Lookout Mountain School for two years.

 

Beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Peggy was also an active volunteer involved in numerous community endeavors. One of her favorite activities was serving the Chattanooga Cotton Ball Association for many years as a board member and also as general chairman. She was a member of the Junior League of Chattanooga where she held many positions on the board and was chairman of the Junior League’s Talented Youth Program at the University of Chattanooga. She was director of the Volunteer Bureau of the Metropolitan Council for Community Services, vice president of the Chattanooga Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (APTA) and volunteered at the Hunter Art Gallery.

 

Peggy was deeply involved in the Bluff Furnace Park Plan as APTA Project Chairman and served on the board of directors of the Chattanooga Opera Guild, Girl Scout Council and Community Concert Association. She was also a former president of the Woodland Garden Cub of Lookout Mountain and the Lookout Mountain PTA. John and Peggy were long-time members of Lookout Mountain Golf Club and Fairyland Club.

 

She was also a devoted and lifelong member of the Christian Science church where she taught Sunday School and served in many capacities throughout the years.

 

 

 

Peggy is survived by a daughter, Ellen Kovacevich Hanna, St. Louis; grandsons Michael LeVan Jr., St. Louis, and Sam Kovacevich, Costa Mesa, California; granddaughters Marcy McMillin Kovacevich, Fullerton, California; Stephanie LeVan Byrd, Thompsons Station, Tennessee; Kendall LeVan White, Ringgold, Georgia.; daughter-in-law Sharon Pfeiffer, Orange Park, Florida; nieces Julie Daniels, Newport News, Virginia and Tricia Bennett of Tennessee; great-niece, Dana Daniels Grindle, Penn Laird, Virginia; great-nephew Billy Daniels, Phillipsburg, New Jersey; cousin Garvin McMillin Colburn, Lookout Mountain, and 12 great-grandchildren. 

 

A private family service was held at Chattanooga National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, 612 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37403 or Peace Haven Association, 12630 Rott Road, St. Louis, MO 63127.

 

Arrangements by Bopp Chapel in Kirkwood, Missouri, and Wann Funeral  Home in Chattanooga.

 

 Please share your memories, stories and photos at www.wannfuneralhome.com

 

 

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