Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

July 3, 2023

CHARLOTTE – Margaret Brooks Somerall passed away on Monday, July 3, 2023 at Southminster Retirement Community.  She was born in Detroit, MI on November 13, 1926, to immigrant parents, John Henry Brooks from Nottingham, England, and Helen Riddoch Brooks from the Drumblade, Huntley community in Scotland.   Her English and Scottish heritage were always important to her.

Margaret grew up in Detroit and studied at Michigan State University where she met Marvin Cecil Somerall.  They were married in Detroit in 1947.  Cecil’s jobs took them to Lansing, MI, Kansas City, MO, Columbus, OH, and then Montreal, Quebec.  In 1960, Margaret and Cecil moved their family of three girls to Orlando and then Hollywood, FL.  In 1970, they relocated to Charlotte, NC where they owned and operated a manufacturer’s agency.  Margaret kept in touch with friends from all their former cities, and even with her Detroit school friends who had a club as youngsters that they called the Fruitbowl.

Margaret was an avid reader and was always learning new things – French, Spanish, painting, tennis, bridge, real estate, yoga, ceramics, and computer skills.  She loved art museums and was a member of Friends of the Mint and Delhom Service League at the Mint Museum. As a docent she led Mint Museum tours for school classes.  She volunteered at Discovery Place, as an usher at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, and at Sardis Presbyterian Church where she was a Stephen Minister.  Margaret loved gardening and volunteered in the nursery shop at Wing Haven.  She always had a few plants that she was propagating.  She collected rocks and she loved nature.

Margaret enjoyed traveling the world.  She and Cecil made trips to the UK and Europe and her journeys continued even after he passed away in 1992.

In 2006, Margaret moved to Southminster Retirement Community where she lived independently and enjoyed lectures, trips, art classes, and the camaraderie of friends for more than fourteen years.

Margaret’s family remembers her as smart, spunky, generous, caring and interested in what was going on in each of their lives, aiming to keep them all in touch with each other.  A favorite memory is the newspaper clippings she kept under her placemat in the kitchen that she knew one of them would enjoy next time they visited.  In later years she sent emails instead.

Margaret is survived by her daughters, Susan Somerall Kooiman and her husband, Wally of Charlotte, NC, Carol Somerall Stratton and her husband, Jeff of Knoxville, TN, and Martha “Marti” Somerall Strickland and her husband, Keith of Elon, NC; grandchildren, Michael Kooiman, Anna Stuckey, Caroline Martin all of Charlotte, NC, Benjamin Stratton of Washington, DC, Alexander Stratton of Richmond, VA, Meredith Johnston of Raleigh, NC, and Grace Strickland of Chapel Hill, NC; and great-grandchildren, Brooks, Annabel, Poppy, Eleanor, Rory, Gabriel and Griffin.  Also surviving is her brother, John Brooks and his wife, Mary of Brighton, MI.

A service to celebrate Margaret will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, July 22, 2023, in the chapel at Southminster Retirement Community, 8919 Park Road, Charlotte, NC.  The family will receive friends following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be offered in memory of Margaret to Wing Haven, 260 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28209 or the Mint Museum Uptown, 500 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 or a local charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.