St. George, Utah - Margaret Ella Richards Wasden, 72, passed away on February 21 ^st , 2020 in St. George, Utah with her husband by her side.  She was born on January 23 ^rd , 1948 and spent her childhood years traveling through the East Coast – including Delaware, Florida, and New York.  Her family would move to Salt Lake City, Utah in the early 1970's and would graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in English with a Minor in French from Utah State University.  She remained in Salt Lake City until 1995 when she moved to St. George to be with her father, mother and sister.  She loved St. George and enjoyed the red rocks and the warm weather.  She married the love of her life, Daniel, on October 26 ^th , 2008.  Daniel and Margaret where the perfect match and took care of each other, learned from each other, laughed and cried together, and built an amazing bond.

Margaret had a love for running and over the course of several years, she would take home 18 awards.  She ran in several running groups in Salt Lake City, Utah and always made time for a run in the morning, stating that it cleared her head.

She had a love for literature and loved just about every book she read.  She spent several years as a Librarian and her favorite story to tell would be of when she would sit in the children's area and read to the children for story time.  She was animated and told stories with such passion and every child that would pass through her story time hour would have an illuminated view of the story that had been read to them.

Margaret loved her family with a passion and would talk about her daughters to everyone she met.  Most recently, she would talk about the newest addition to her family, Asher Grayson, 2.  She was able to watch videos of him during her last few days and her face beamed at the site of him and would convey to everyone that would come to visit her how much she loved her grandson and his mom.  She would develop a close bond with her niece, Amy Ence, whom she always spoke about with such enthusiasm.  She and Amy shared the love of ballet and she used to love watching Amy dance and would continue to talk about it throughout the years.  She would also grow close to Sarah Dunn, her other niece, and developed a bond that she was very proud of.

Margaret also had a passion for music and taught piano in Salt Lake City for many years.  She and Daniel would spend hours playing the piano and singing – anything from church hymns to musical numbers from "Phantom of the Opera", "Carousel", "The King and I" and countless others.  She would pass along this musical talent to her daughter, Kristen, and during early years would accompany Kristen as she played her flute for programs or church events.

Margaret is survived by her husband Daniel, her 2 daughters, Kristen Steele (Jacksonville, FL) and Melissa Chapman (Portland, OR), her brother Kent Richards, and her grandchild, Asher Grayson (Portland, OR).  She is proceeded in death by her parents, Lorin and Genevieve, her sister Janet Hodges, and her daughter, Jennifer Good, whom she held dear to her heart until the day she closed her eyes for the last time.

A celebration of her life will be held on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hurricane 12 ^th Ward Chapel, 452 North 2600 West, Hurricane, Utah.