Margaret Reid Stockman

by Jeffrey S. Hardy

See Diary

Margaret Reid was born on 4 October 1900 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, to William Newman Reid and Charlotte Johnson.  She lived at home and worked as a stenographer prior to her marriage.  On 6 July 1932 she married Herbert Gustav Stockman of Murray, Salt Lake County, Utah.  They lived in Salt Lake City where he worked as a structural engineer for several mining companies and as an independent insurance salesman.  Margaret specialized in singing and performed in many operettas in the Salt Lake Valley.  She bore two children, a son and a daughter.

On 2 July 1964 the Stockmans were called to serve in the West European Mission, headed by Mark E. Peterson.  He appointed them to labor in the North Scottish Mission, Margaret in the mission office in Edinburgh and with the Relief Society and Primary organizations, and Herbert with the Aaronic Priesthood organization.  After a week in the mission home in Utah, the Stockmans departed for Great Britain on 15 September 1964.  An early trial came to Margaret on 27 September 1965 when she fell and broke her hand.  This, however, did not deter her from performing her duties.  Margaret frequently provided food and lodging for the young Elders of the mission, and was especially helpful during a hepatitis outbreak in June 1965 that afflicted many of the missionaries.  She fell in love with the Scottish countryside, frequently mentioning it in her journal; on one spring day she remarked that “the fields have never been more beautiful.”¹   She also made special mention of spiritual meetings in her diary, once after a day-long conference recording: “We returned to Edinburgh in the early evening after a spiritually rewarding day.”²  

On 31 May 1965 the North Scottish Mission was merged with the Scottish Mission under President David B. Haight, and Herbert became President Haight’s assistant president.  Two months later the couple was transferred to work in the London Temple as ordinance workers.  Margaret also performed some record-keeping and secretarial work there.  After a year in the temple the Stockmans were released from their mission and returned home.    

Back in Salt Lake City, Margaret and Herbert continued their temple service in the Salt Lake Temple until 1972.  Margaret Reid Stockman died on 18 November 1979 in Afton, Lincoln County, Wyoming.  She was subsequently buried in Salt Lake City next to her husband, who had died a year previously.  At the time of her death her two children had ten grandchildren between them.