Peggy Pedigo: Celebrating the long life of a Tehachapi woman
Peggy Pedigo: Celebrating the long life of a Tehachapi woman
By: Jon Hammond, Tehachapi News Columnist
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Underneath cloud-dappled Tehachapi skies, a group of local oldtimers gathered at Meadowbrook Park in Golden Hills on Saturday to remember and celebrate the life of Tehachapi native Margaret “Peggy” Pedigo, who passed away at the enviable age of 91 on Aug. 31.
Peggy’s parents, Evard and Hazel Dickerson, began farming and dairying in Tehachapi in 1911 and my family began farming here in 1921, so there was always a connection — Peggy used to sing with my great-uncle Lance Estes in the 1930s and I always heard about Peggy Pedigo.
She was a strong, determined woman who spent her childhood in the rural farming lifestyle of Tehachapi’s past. Her father, “Dick” Dickerson, had a beautiful herd of registered Milking Shorthorn cattle, and his free-spirited daughter Peggy helped him on the farm as much as any boy could have. Meadowbrook Farm, which was the Dickerson’s dairy, was located where Meadowbrook Park is today and was the source of the park’s name.
The Tehachapi of Peggy’s youth was a small, somewhat isolated mountain community, with the little town of Tehachapi surrounded by farms and ranches. Growing up on a dairy farm meant plenty of hard work, but Peggy found delight and joy in the rural pleasures of observing waterfowl on the small lake that graced the property, exploring the countryside and laying in the meadow watching clouds drift across blue Tehachapi skies.
There were hardships too, with bitter snowy winters, floods and plenty of mud at times, but living through these trying times made Peggy tough like the pioneer women of old. My uncle, Henry Hand, who was born the same year as Peggy, always had a crush on her and he used to tell me how strong she was and how much fun she was when they would square dance together.
We grew a lot of vegetables in the summer and had a produce stand (a “truck garden” as they used to call them in the old days) and Peggy was one of our loyal customers. She’d order vegetables and when we’d call to tell her that her order was ready, she’d come out right away. She would then stay and visit with my uncle for awhile and tell me of the early days in Tehachapi. I loved that robust woman with the curly white hair, tanned face, direct gaze and firm grip.
Peggy also worked in Tehachapi school cafeterias for many years, and she’d serve me lunch every day at Wells Elementary. She genuinely liked kids and talked to us, not down at us. Her ability to have meaningful conversations with people great and small, friends and total strangers alike, was a quality she kept all her life.
Later residents of Tehachapi also knew Peggy who was a familiar sight as she walked around town visiting neighbors, her rapid stride, perfect posture and neat white hair recognizable from a distance.
Peggy had a keen and curious mind and embodied the description “lifelong learner.” She loved to learn new things and loved to travel, and she was delighted to accompany her daughter Margye Wrye, who arranged and led tours for many years. Her sense of humor, curiosity and fearlessness made her a wonderful traveling companion.
Peggy truly was a native wildflower of Tehachapi, raised here on good earth in clean mountain air, and we were blessed to have her as part of the fabric of our community for so long.
The little Dickerson girl from the Tehachapi dairy always envied birds for their ability to fly, and when she grew up she took to the sky when she could in airplanes and helicopters.
I think she’s joined the hawks in flight now. . .
Have a good week.
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