The Salt of the Earth

“People who are salt of the earth are decent, dependable and unpretentious.” (Idiom Dictionary)

This week the Wantagh-Seaford community buried a wonderful person who was truly the salt of the earth: decent, dependable and unpretentious.  Margaret Padgett passed suddenly at age 84. 

Margaret was a great grandmother, grandmother of five and mom of two sisters.  She and her husband, Sam, have been married for 56 years, which is itself a remarkable achievement usually reserved for people who are, indeed, the salt of the earth.

Margaret was one of the most consistently nice people I have had the pleasure of knowing.  My wife, Sue has known Margaret literally her entire life.  Margaret was very much an integral part of the fabric of Wantagh and Seaford community life and of our history.  Her brother, Dick Terrell, was chief of the Seaford Fire Department, and her dad, Oscar Terrell, was chief and commissioner with the Wantagh Fire Department. Her husband, Sam, is a retired court officer.

Margaret’s mother, Edna (Smith) Terrell was the daughter of Will Smith who had a farm on Park Avenue near the present Jeffrey Court.  It is my understanding that Smith Street was named for Will and his brother Fred, who had an adjoining farm, there. The Smith brothers’ farm houses still exist in the area of the east end of Park Avenue.

I think that it is important for us to take special note of, and to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for our long-time neighbors, especially those who are decent, dependable, yet unpretentious…the salt of the earth, such as Margaret Padgett truly was.