Margaret Aro Obituary

Margaret (Maggie Houston) passed peacefully at home with family November 17, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. She was 81. Born Margaret Jean Packard on March 30, 1930, in Kermanshah, Iran, to nurse Jean Wells Packard of Paris, Texas and Doctor Harry Phineas Packard of Pueblo, Colorado, she was the youngest of seven children and the only girl. Raised in a Presbyterian medical mission , she had a lifelong love of Persia, its culture, art and people. Her mother had established the first nursing college in Iran, and as a young girl "Margie" assisted her father administering medicine at the local leper colony. Returning to the U.S. in 1943 on a ship carrying 900 German prisoners of war, Margaret and other children sang Christmas songs for the men, and she recalled the ornaments they'd made from the tin foil in their Red Cross cigarette packs. Margaret graduated from Colorado College in 1951, as "Outstanding Senior Woman", with a double major in zoology and education. As a young woman her two goals were to become a doctor and own a horse, neither of which she ever accomplished. Her marriage to Ralph "Skip" Houston of Crockett, Texas, brought her two sons. In the 1960's Maggie hosted KVOR Radio's "Open Circuit" talk show, chatting with callers, offering advice and gathering recipes which she typed and distributed each week. Maggie also emceed fashion shows, taught modeling and speech diction, and chaperoned Miss Teenage America contestants to national pageants. She interviewed many celebrities including Nat King Cole, Jack Benny, Loren Greene and the Smothers Brothers. In 1963 she married KKTV broadcaster Harold "Sam" Aro, and gave birth to two more boys. In the 1970's Margaret earned her Master's Degree in education and began a 22 year career at Helen Keller Elementary School, where she excelled teaching children with learning challenges. She received the Clara Barton Award for her work as the Coordinator of Volunteers with the Pikes Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross, served on the National Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America, and chaired the Colorado Advisory Board for the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She ran for state legislature, was a soccer referee, volunteer docent at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and sang in the choir at the First Presbyterian Church for over 50 years. In retirement Margaret enjoyed a new marriage to Robert Brooks. She became an accomplished watercolorist, selling and showing her work at restaurants and galleries. She wrote and published her father's story, "Hakim Sahib - Sir Doctor". Together Maggie and Bob traveled to her beloved Iran, visiting the places of her childhood and meeting people who still remembered her family 60 years later. She is survived by husband Robert Brooks of Denver, brother Linzee Packard (Mary) of Silver City, NM; sons Sam Houston of Atlanta, GA, Michael Houston (Angelita, Chloe and Sophia) of Colorado Springs, Ed (Wendy) of Denver, and Andrew of Afognak Island, Alaska; grandchildren Melissa, Christin, Christopher, Joey, Grace and Jonathan; and great grandchildren Harrison, Jackson and Emma. Margaret touched many with her kindness, beauty, cheerfulness and generosity. She asked that no services be held; only that her ashes be spread to the wind in the mountains. Donations can be made in her memory to the Pikes Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross, or Pikes Peak Hospice.