Stinnett, Margarite

 Died at her home in Oakland, CA, June 2, 2009, of aspiration pneumonia, her family at her side. She was 87 years young. Born as a New Year's baby on January 1, 1922, at her parents' home in Vallejo, CA; in a Murphy Bed. Peggy was a widely known Bay Area newswoman for seven decades. Beginning her career in 1942 at the San Jose Mercury News, then moving to the Oakland Post Enquirer during WWII. In mid 1950s, she covered politics at Oakland City Hall for the Oakland Montclarion and later was Associate Editor of the Oakland Tribune and Editor of the Editorial Page Subsequently the Tribune used her talents as a columnist reporting the Oakland-East Bay. She also worked as reporter for KQED's prestigious Newsroom on Channel 9 and KTVU Channel 2 News. Peggy took a time-out of her news work in the 1970s and was elected a member of the Oakland Board of Education where she became president, an alternating post. After serving three political terms on the School Board, she taught at the School of Journalism at U. C. Berkeley. She is survived by her husband, Robert Stinnett of Oakland, their children Colleen Badagliacco of Morgan Hill, former president of the California Association of Realtors and Jim Stinnett, of San Francisco, Computer Analyst for the San Mateo Union High School District.