Margaret (Denaro) Ponder

Margaret Denaro Ponder was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 11, 1920.  She was raised in Madison, Georgia, by Lula and Paul Atkinson.

After finishing school in Madison, she attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and graduated in 1941.

On February 4, 1942, she married her childhood sweetheart, Lt. Paul Holloway Ponder, Jr. also from Madison, GA.  She spent the next 30 years traveling with her husband to many parts of the United States and to many parts of the world.  

Lt. Col. Ponder was a pilot for the USAF for 27 years.  The Ponders lived in the US territory of Alaska before it became a state and spent two years in Ankara, Turkey.

When Lt. Col. Ponder retired from the USAF in 1967, they moved to Largo, Florida, and enjoyed living there until 2002 when they returned to Georgia.

Mrs. Ponder moved to Delmar Gardens, Lawrenceville, GA, in 2002 where she enjoyed an active social life and particularly enjoyed playing bridge.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul H. Ponder, Jr. 

She is survived by four daughters, Mary Frances Jones (Ron), Martene Stansbery (Wayne), Lucille Hess (Barry) and Paullin Judin (Phil); eight grandchildren, Clare Schueren and Graham Jones, Paul Stansbery, Robert Stansbery, and Megan Lee Stansbery-Galles, Don Hess, and Renn Freuchtel and Paul Judin; and six great-grandchildren, James and Ryan Stansbery, Sam and Zach Schueren, Ana Garner-Hess, and Ethan Freuchtel.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests any memorials be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/nca/donate) or Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary (https://ofsds.org).

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