Margaret Arrison

Margaret “Margie” Arrison, née Tucker, age 78, of Littleton, MA passed away on Monday,

August 17, 2026 in Danbury, CT after a mercifully short battle with cancer. She was born on January 25, 1948 in Pittsfield, MA, daughter to Charles and Mary Tucker. Margie grew up in Lee, MA traipsing around the woods with her 4 siblings, Anne Marie, Carolyn, Chuck, and Cathy. She attended Lee High School and graduated from UMass Amherst in 1969 as a Registered Nurse. Margie married Thom Arrison in 1969 and raised two beautiful girls, Michele and Theresa, during their 31 year marriage. In 1996 Margie reinvented herself and graduated from Muscular Therapy Institute as a licensed massage therapist. This hands-on approach to health and wellness resonated deeply with her and she remained in this career until retiring in 2024.

Over her storied career in healing, Margie spent time at Boston Children’s Hospital, was a camp nurse for years and even spent time as a Littleton School Nurse. She was able to take time to raise her children, before heading back into nursing and ultimately making the change to massage therapy. It was in this change that Margie truly shined. She built a 30 year career, based in her home studio, located in the beautiful 300 year old farmhouse in Littleton where she and her family lived for 45 years. She soothed sore muscles, healed injuries, and inspired relaxation. Her clients became lifelong friends.

The house at Fletcher Lane was an epicenter for family gatherings, both Tucker and Arrison. Margie loved a party, loved party prep and was truly happy when the house was full of people she loved. Summers were filled with nieces and nephews staying for weeks on end, shucking corn, swimming in Long Lake, and the one and only Kimball Farms. Thanksgiving and Christmas brought more family, food and games, games, games! As always, the candy jar was kept full. A bit of a chocoholic, no one could put away more Hershey’s Kisses than Margie!

When the parties died down and all the guests went home, the garden was Margie’s passion. Her love for gardening started very young, when she would hold the seeds for her father who tilled the soil in their yard. However, it was the big back yard in Littleton, where Margie was able to really indulge her passion. In the early years it was the long garden beds, filled with all sorts of veggies and herbs that took most of her time. The property was truly a farm, with gardens, chickens, pigs and even a horse named Cocoa. Maple trees were tapped and sap was made into syrup. As the years passed, her focus turned more towards cultivating the many beautiful flower gardens surrounding the house. Every spring you’d see Margie out in the back yard with her big gardening hat, flowered gloves and puffy kneeling pad. She loved bringing the beautiful blooms inside to put into vases Theresa had made and had bouquets all over the house. Margie gardened to the very end with pots of veggies and flowers brightening the deck outside her living room door.

Margie was also an avid traveler. If her kids or grandkids gave her any reason at all, she was in the car or on a plane. Whether visiting Michele in Alabama, traveling with the “Auntourage” to see Theresa’s shows or heading to Delaney, Billy and AJs graduations, Margie was there. She spent many years vacationing on the Cape with the girls. She loved Provence, toured Greece and painted in Van Gogh’s studio. She even made trips to Boston with the “Grands” an adventure, Duck Boats, Fenway, the Ducklings and the T. Nowhere to go? How about the woods in the backyard, visiting the brook and stomping on skunk cabbage. At the core of her travel was the desire to experience these places with the people she loved most.

Caring, loving, funny, stubborn, Margie was one-of-a-kind. She loved her family. She loved telling stories over and over and over until everyone she knew could tell them too. She loved hot fudge sundaes. She loved antiques. Her house was always spotless. She loved babies. Her grandkids most of all. She loved birds. She did not love squirrels. She loved Havarti with Dill. She loved Blue. She broke every computer she ever owned. She loved broccoli. Everyone who met her, loved her and she loved them all right back.

Margie is survived by her daughters, Michele Romaniello and Theresa Arrison, grandchildren, Delaney, Billy and AJ Romaniello, sisters, Anne Marie Brooks and Carolyn Miller, and brother, Charles Tucker, as well as several cousins and a bounty of nieces and nephews. Margie is now at peace, resting with her mother and father, Mary and Charles Tucker, sister Cathy Stauffer, nieces Anne Brooks and Sheila Tucker and grandson James Romaniello.

Graveside services and burial at St Mary’s Cemetery in Lee, MA will be at 11am on Saturday, August 29th.

Arrangements are under the care of Badger Funeral Home, A Life Celebration Home, 347 King St., Littleton, MA 01460. 978-486-3709