A 79-year-old bicyclist killed in Jersey City earlier this week has been identified as a highly regarded and accomplished quilter from Hoboken.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Remarkably, this was not the first time that Peggy McGeary had been struck by a vehicle: getting hit by an SUV back on March 1st, 2004, as she recounts in her bio on the Mile Square Fabric Studio website.
“By some magic and in spite of being hit by a SUV, I had no broken bones. At 3 that afternoon I walked out of the hospital. I, however, did not escape injury completely and had enough soft tissue damage to keep me in physical therapy for the next year,” she wrote.
“It made it almost impossible to continue my present job as a sign maker. I had lost my strength and flexibility on my right side.”
This incident caused her to take up sewing and quilting full time, having won dozens of awards for her work since 2002.
According to Jersey City police, a woman was fatally struck by a truck making a right turn while she was riding her bicycle near the intersection of Paterson Plank Road and Palisade Avenue – on the the Jersey City/Union City border.
Although authorities had declined to release her name prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, a Facebook post on Thursday morning from the Quilters of Color Network New York City seemed to indicate that McGeary was the victim.
“Few people had Peggy’s talent for designing beautiful quilts, including the one she created by hand for Hoboken’s 150th anniversary,” Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a statement
“As one of the founding members of Hob’art, her contributions to the Hoboken arts community will not be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.”
The Jersey Journal was the first to identify McGeary as the deceased yesterday.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
Peggy, you will always be in our hearts. You made Hoboken, Hoboken.
This city lost an artist, a selfless neighbor, a fighter and a friend. Hoboken lost an icon and a piece of it’s heart.
Thank you for being all of the above and more.
T.S.