Organized and in charge

Deepa Bharath

Peggy Schmidt liked to be in charge.

The two words she used often were: “Chop, chop.”

As the mother of three boys, Peggy used those words often. She had

“to-do lists” for everyone, including herself.

It was that organizational ability coupled with her creativity

that made her a superstar manager of gift stores, a career Peggy

chose appropriately.

She was a woman who knew herself better than anyone else. Peggy

knew what she wanted and liked.

A UCLA graduate, Peggy moved to Newport Beach from Los Angeles

with her ex-husband, a dentist. She started out as an interior

decorator, but found her passion when she began work as a store

manager at the Happy Cooker gift store. She kept the shelves stocked

with exclusive items and the cash registers full. She moved on to

manage other stores in the area and eventually opened 31st Street,

her own store in Newport Beach.

Peggy was a good friend who was a patient listener, a gracious

hostess and a colorful entertainer. She picked her linen and dishes

with care and set an immaculate table. She topped her dining table

with a carved wooden door, an antique she bought at an auction in

Hearst Castle.

She covered the piece with glass and set her fine dishes on it.

Guests admired her plates and goblets lined with gold and silver.

Peggy used cutlery and things she inherited from her mother, aunts

and grandmother, precious items handed down over the generations. She

took pride in throwing a good party.

Peggy was also an excellent cook. Her sons’ friends always stopped

by for a bite to eat before or after they went surfing. The kids also

enjoyed her famous popcorn balls. She popped the kernels and then

made balls out of them, binding the popped corn together with a

sweet, mysterious syrup, which was simply divine.

She cooked traditional Midwestern food, hamburgers and barbecued

meats. But she later learned to cook French cuisine, which made her

dinner parties even more sought after and appreciated.

Peggy liked France. She liked the French landscape and the elegant

architecture. An avid biker, Peggy traveled all over Europe. She and

her ex-husband rode tandem bikes.

Peggy picked up bicycling in the early ‘70s and continued until a

year before her death. About 30 years ago, she got to the top of Mt.

Whitney before one of her sons did.

She loved dogs. One of her favorite dogs was Greta, who was known

to jump off a second floor window and abscond to the Newport Beach

Tennis Club, where she would watch television at the bar. Peggy

always laughed about that.

She enjoyed music and could pull off many a tune in the right

company. Frank Sinatra was her idea of a rock star.

Peggy was also a huge fan of the 007 movies and often proclaimed

that her favorite actor was Sean Connery. She never got tired of

watching reruns of “I Love Lucy,” starring Lucille Ball, and kept up

on the latest Hollywood gossip.

Peggy was still a traditional woman. She liked the idea of a

family. She liked people to dress the proper way. And she never

remarried after her divorce. She cherished her independence and was

passionate about her job.

She also had a great sense of humor. Nobody knew why, but when the

El Segundo Freeway was constructed, she named it “the Peggy Schmidt

Freeway.” And there was only one way she’d go to Los Angeles. Forget

the San Diego Freeway or the Golden State Freeway; she always wanted

to hit the 105.

“Oh, I’d rather take the Peggy Schmidt Freeway,” she said.