Margaret Jean Shields Yaglenski passed away July 11, 2019 after a 3-year battle with liver disease.
Born to James Robinson Shields & Helen Ruth Andrews Shields on September 29, 1957, she was raised in Holmes, NY and graduated from Pawling High School in 1975. She graduated Cum Laude with an Associate Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City in 1977, and has 3 works of art on permanent display at F.I.T.
At 23 years of age, she became the youngest person ever to be promoted to Director of Displays at Lord & Taylor’s Westchester County store. She held similar positions at Belk’s in North Carolina, was the Display Director for Bloomingdale’s Washington, D.C. area stores, and finally was promoted to Display Director for Lord & Taylor’s mid-Atlantic Region, ranging from Massachusetts to Atlanta, excluding the 5th Avenue store. Later, Margaret became a kitchen & bath designer, and finally opened her own business in Clifton VA in 2004.
In June 1984, Margaret married John W. Yaglenski of Alexandria Va. and moved to Northern Virginia to begin a new life together. For each new home the couple bought, Margaret redesigned the kitchen & baths, and did all the decorating. Her home in Old Town Alexandria was featured in the Old Town Port Packet, and other aspects of it were featured in Country magazine.
Margaret loved to travel, especially to the Islands, and made several trips there in recent years. She has catered and decorated homes & businesses, parties & celebrations for individuals and corporations. She loved to create beauty and was highly regarded in the northern Virginia area. However, she is best known for being a friend to all. She had a soft spot for anyone who had an illness, or needed help with a problem, and would immediately drop everything to help anyone, so much so that her friends called her “Margaret the Martyr”. She gave of herself willingly & totally to anyone who asked for help her entire life and has many friends in the Virginia and New York areas. Margaret’s final gift to humanity is her donation of her corneas to the Virginia Eye Bank, so that 2 other persons will see again.
Margaret is survived by her husband of 35 years, her son, Christian Marc Yaglenski, who was born in August 1992 and whom Margaret was especially proud of when he rose to the rank of Eagle Scout, her oldest sister Betsy, who lives in Connecticut, her younger brother James, who lives in Colonial Beach, VA, six nieces, Meghan, Alexandria, Heather, Jill, Leah, and Celina, and her nephew, Douglas.
Margaret will be laid to rest Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 1 PM in The Clove Cemetery, LaGrange, NY between her Mom & Dad.
