Margaret A. Keegan (formerly Margaret Vandenberg), died on February 21, 2023 at the age of 64 in Ocean County, NJ. She lived her last several years with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). A memorial celebration of her life will take place on September 9, 2023 from 2:30 to 5:30 PM at The Brass Rail, 135 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please donate to CurePSP at the link below. Margaret was born on April 30, 1958 in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Gerritsen Beach. She was smart and ambitious and worked full-time as a law firm secretary as she studied at night, eventually graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in Economics from Brooklyn College in 1983. She became a bank credit analyst and eventually rose to senior vice president at NationsBank (now Bank of America).

When her two sons, Chris, then 9, and Will, then 6, needed her full-time attention at home, she left the bank and cared for them as she simultaneously began an educational transition that led to a Ph.D. from Fordham University in 2014. Her passion was helping children with reading disabilities. She worked for several years as a reading specialist in the Pelham NY School District until her illness forced her to retire in 2018. Margaret loved to travel, especially to Italy, and she even took Italian lessons so that she could talk to the locals (at least the waiters). Lying on warm beaches, drinks and dinners with friends and family, dancing at parties, listening to Bruce Springsteen (live whenever possible) and hanging out with longtime Brooklyn girlfriends were some of her favorite things to do. She was fun to be with and people loved her. Most of all, Margaret was happiest just being with her boys, Chris and Will. They were her greatest love and were her support throughout her final years, and at the end. Margaret is survived by her two sons, Christopher Vandenberg, 34, and William Vandenberg, 31, as well as her sisters Stella Burke and Maura Keegan, and her brothers Edward Keegan and Christopher Keegan.