Margaret A. Gunter

MARGARET ANNETTE KEY GUNTER

JONESBORO, Arkansas – Longtime Bay Elementary School teacher Margaret Gunter, who shaped generations of students in more than four decades in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, died Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, at home. She was surrounded by loved ones when she passed away peacefully in her sleep after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 72.

Margaret Annette Key was born July 20, 1949, at home in Forrest City, Arkansas, to Ocie and Maudie Key. She was the youngest of their nine children. In 1969, she married Gary Gunter, who preceded her in death in 2006.

In addition to her parents and her husband, Margaret was preceded in death by brothers Cecil Key and John Andrew Key; and sisters Dora McMickle, Nelle Hobson, Margie Key, and Helen Key. Survivors include her daughter, Laura Gunter of Jonesboro; her son, Joshua Gunter and wife Christy of Mountain Home; grandson Jaxson Gunter of Mountain Home; sisters Audrey Hobson of Kerrville, Texas, and Elizabeth Morris of Searcy; numerous nieces and nephews; and hundreds of former students.

After graduating from Forrest City High School, Margaret attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, where she met her future husband. She began her 44-year teaching career in 1970.

The classroom was her calling.

“Margaret had the golden touch in reaching children,” said Claudia Lamberson, who taught alongside Margaret for 43 years. “She made such an impact on their lives.”

The fellow teacher and close friend recalled the elaborate lessons Margaret created, including one based on the book “Where the Wild Things Are,” which earned statewide recognition.

Students who started their school careers with her remember cooking green eggs and ham, picnics with teddy bears, and tracking a runaway gingerbread man through the campus. They also remember the love she showed them through hugs, smiles, and kind words.

“Margaret Gunter loved my kids just about as much as I did,” said Jonesboro business owner Amanda Pierce, one of Margaret’s first-grade students in 1990. The two stayed in touch as Amanda worked through high school and turned to her trusted first-grade teacher when she struggled.

“She would stay after school with me and read with me. She is the only reason I read anything now,” she said. Amanda got to experience the magic of Margaret’s classroom three more times with her own children.

The feeling of acceptance was the same for each of them as it had been with Amanda.

“We all loved her very much. She will forever be missed.”

Margaret’s son, Joshua, said his mother loved each of her students as if they were her own children.

“She cared about them outside of her classroom, and she spent tireless hours decorating her room and creating lessons to give them a safe, happy place to go. It didn’t matter about their level in learning, she took care of all of them equally,” he said.

Even with all the attention she lavished on school children, she made sure her son and his twin sister knew they were her priority. “We never felt slighted,” he said.

The only child she might have loved more than all the others was her grandson, Jaxson. “She was a different person around him,” her son said.

“Margaret had the grace to lift people up,” her friend and fellow teacher said. “When I think of her, I think of the 12 virtues referenced in the Bible. She had those fruits of the spirit.”

The family plans a private funeral with Pastor Tad Rogers officiating. Arrangements are with Emerson Funeral Home of Jonesboro.

A celebration of life will be announced after pandemic concerns ease.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials in Margaret’s name be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org ; the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org ; or the children’s charity of choice.