Penelope Grows
On February 22nd, 2025 our extraordinary sister Margaret Rose DeJong passed away, leaving behind a profound legacy of kindness, compassion, love, and gentleness. Her remarkable life of 85 years was a shining testament to her selfless dedication to her art and serving others.
A Chicago native, Margaret grew up in the North Center neighborhood and attended the School of the Art Institute, where she earned a BFA in 1962. Thereafter she embarked upon a long and many-faceted career as a freelance artist, a professional graphic artist, and a scientific illustrator. She played the recorder beautifully and sang with the San Francisco Orchestra Chorus for several years, until her work in Egypt precluded her from doing so. She continued pursuing her musical participation whenever possible.
In 1992, Margaret was recruited as an artist for the Epigraphic Survey . She joined the team at Chicago House in Luxor and quickly mastered the precise facsimile drawing method used for the Survey’s publications of Pharaonic wall reliefs. Her technical drawing experience had provided the ideal preparation for capturing the minute details of hieroglyphic inscriptions and rendering them realistically in two dimensions.
Margaret’s particular ability to create facsimiles that capture not only the content, but also the distinctive style of reliefs from different historical periods, helped expand the Survey’s documentation of epigraphic material to a much broader chronological range than had previously been attempted.
To the daily life of the staff at Chicago House, Margaret brought a love of animals and the natural world, a passion for vocal and instrumental music, and quirky sense of humor to enliven the slow, patient days of epigraphic work. As the years passed, she took on the role of instructing new generations of artists and epigraphers in the Chicago House method, and her care and exactitude in teaching made her a valued mentor to the younger team members. She was beloved as well by the local workmen in the temple and at the house, in whose company and conversation she delighted. Regrettably, after the Covid-19 crisis of 2020, her declining health prevented her from returning to Egypt, but she continued indefatigably working to correct and finalize facsimile drawings for publication until shortly before her death.
Margaret’s contributions to the Epigraphic Survey’s fieldwork over three decades have been wide-ranging and transformative. She strove for perfection in every line.
She is deeply mourned by all her family, her friends and her colleagues at Chicago House, and her memory will be revered in Luxor.
She is deeply mourned by all her family, her friends and her colleagues at Chicago House, and her memory will be revered in Luxor.
Margaret is survived by four of her siblings, John DeJong, Penelope Grows, Christine Swilley, and Catherine Artman.
In lieu of flowers we suggest donating to one of her favorite charities:
The San Francisco SPCA ( www.sfspca.org)
Animal Care in Egypt (paypal.me/AnimalCareinEgypt) or www.ace-Egypt.org.uk)
In lieu of flowers we suggest donating to one of her favorite charities:
The San Francisco SPCA ( www.sfspca.org)
Animal Care in Egypt (paypal.me/AnimalCareinEgypt) or www.ace-Egypt.org.uk)
