Margaret Keyes

MARGARET NAUMANN KEYES

Iowa City

Margaret Naumann Keyes, 97, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, at Oaknoll Care Center, Iowa City. A gathering to remember and celebrate Margaret's life will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, at Old Capitol on the UI Pentacrest.

Professor Keyes was born to Charles Reuben Keyes and Sarah Mary Naumann Keyes on March 4, 1918, in Mount Vernon, Iowa. She graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1935 and from Cornell College in 1939 with a bachelor of arts degree in home economics. In 1951, she received a master of science degree in related art in home economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in 1965, a doctor of philosophy degree in interior design and housing from Florida State University, Tallahassee.

Her professional career included teaching home economics in high schools in Stanley, Iowa, (1939-1942); and Clinton, Iowa, (1942-1950). In 1951, she became a faculty member of the department of home economics at the University of Iowa and, after 37 years of service, retired and became professor emerita. Margaret conducted the research for the restoration of Old Capitol and coordinated the restoration process beginning in 1970. In 1975, she was named director of Old Capitol. She wrote numerous scholarly articles and three books: "Nineteenth Century Home Architecture of Iowa City" (1967); "Old Capitol: Portrait of an Iowa Landmark" (1988); and "Nineteenth Century Home Architecture of Iowa City, Silver Edition" (1993).

Professor Keyes was a member of the American Home Economics Association (now the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) and chaired the Art Section and served on the executive board. She also was a member of the State Historical Society of Iowa and was a board member for 17 years, including serving as chairman. Other affiliations and board responsibilities included the Terrace Hill Commission and Authority, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Victorian Society in America and the Cornell College Alumni Association. Margaret was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Nu, Omicron Delta Kappa, the First Presbyterian Church, and Altrusa International.

Professor Keyes received two honorary degrees, the doctor of humane letters in 1976 from Cornell College and the doctor of humanities in 1977 from Coe College. In 1989, she was named a distinguished friend of the University of Iowa by the University of Iowa Alumni Association.

In retirement, Margaret volunteered at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in the Day of Surgery Lounge and was on the volunteer board there.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Catharine Keyes Miller; and her friend and colleague with whom she made her home, Floy Eugenia Whitehead.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Old Capitol Endowment Fund, c/o the University of Iowa Foundation, One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242.