Margaret Jean Wertz

April 25, 1948 – February 3, 2025

Margaret Jean Wertz was born in Salt Lake City April 25, 1948 to Robert Leslie and Shirley Jean Anderson Wertz.  She attended schools in Granite School District, graduating from Skyline High School in 1966.

After high school graduation, Margaret moved to Seattle Washington, where she earned a master’s degree in nursing.  She began her nursing career at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Harborview is known for being the only Level I trauma center in the Pacific Northwest.  As her career progressed, she became the first female board member for the Harborview Medical Center.  Margaret accepted employment with Pfizer Inc. as a researcher.  Her assignment was to find a treatment for post-surgical infections, especially relating to stabbing and gunshot wound surgeries.

Margaret developed an infection, herself.  She suffered with a spinal infection for the final twenty years of her life.  She passed away February 3, 2025.  Margaret did not marry or have children.  However, she is survived by her four siblings: Kathy (Arn) Wilcox; Ed (Sandy) Wertz; Bob (Celeste) Wertz; and Mary Anne (Paul) McCarty.  She is also survived by her nieces and nephews who recall how she remembered them each at Christmas with a unique gift or craft.  Margaret also leaves behind many dear friends in her Seattle neighborhood who remember her fondly.  She was known for her wonderful vegetable garden, and for generously sharing her produce with her neighbors at their semi-annual neighborhood gatherings.

A celebration of life was held in Seattle by Margaret's neighbors, and another celebration of life was held in Salt Lake City by her family.  She was cremated in Seattle, but her ashes were returned to Utah and buried at Wasatch Lawn.