Margot S. Millon

She is survived by her daughter Dara L. Silverman, her daughter-in-law and son Charlotte E. and Gary S. Silverman, her granddaughter Linda R. Silverman and all of her numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Margot Jane Ritwe was born in Lancaster, PA in 1931 and her family moved to Miami in the late 1930s where she spent the next 70 years of her life. She was part of the first women’s graduating class of University of Florida in 1952 where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She met and married her first husband, Preston Silverman, in 1954 taking on the name of Margot J. Silverman. She was again married in 1986 to Milton Millon, taking on her current name Margot S. Millon. Due to her illness she moved to be close to her children in Media, PA for a few years, where she enjoyed the gardens and restaurants in the area. Subsequently, she moved to Oyster Bay, NY for the remainder of her life.

Margot enjoyed frequent visits to the nearby Oyster Bay harbor and beach that was reminiscent of her days spent on Miami Beach and in Camden, Maine. She was fortunate to have had a loving, dedicated caregiver, Sonia Green for the last 6 years of her life.

Growing up she felt inspired to help people of need and this became her fundamental foundation in her professional educational career as a Teacher, Curriculum developer, and as the Principal at Miami Springs Elementary School. She encouraged staff and students to engage and learn by breaking out of the box of the prototypical norms for her time. Such as encouraging the group to build their own biome at the school while going into the Everglades to learn about the ecosystem they would plan and build. Excursions to the Yucatan for archeological digs gave the students a deeper understanding of the Mayan culture and so on. Whenever, there was a potential for a real life laboratory, Margot encouraged the staff to try it and the students responded by becoming fully engaged in the projects.

From a spiritual side, Margot, as her mother, were advocates of the Jewish Reform Movement and belonged to Temple Israel in Miami. She also occasionally taught Sunday school and actively engaged with her children’s activities, as well as at home discussions about religion. While expensive and tight on her budget, she supported her children participating in Jewish Camps such as UAHC (now URJ) Camp Coleman and YMHA-YWHA (now JCC).

Margot also enjoyed gardening with 52 varieties of roses while living in Westchester, a suburb of Miami. She enjoyed the meticulous pruning, spreading of manure, and spraying for mildew and fungus that roses are susceptible to in the Miami area. Later in life she was the cofounder with her second husband of Miami Orchids & Waterlilies in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew devastated their previous nursery, Miami Orchids in the Redlands growing district just south of Miami. Again she loved the various water plants learning about their growing needs and the broad palette of colors from the tropical water lilies.

In lieu of flowers, fruit baskets, etc. the family asks you to donate to a charity of your choice in the memory of Margot S. Millon. If you want to leave the family a fond memory or comment, please go to the Neptune Cremation Society Web Page neptuneofnewjersey.com.