Obituary:
Margaret (Peg) Billings passed away peacefully after a short illness on December 18, 2003, with her loving niece, Loreen, holding her hand. She would have been 92 on Christmas Eve, 2003.

Peg was born on December 24, 1911, at home in Blue Lake; to Henry James and Helen Douarin Laverty. She was delivered by her grandmother, Helene Marie Douarin.

Her grandfather, Francois Douarin was one of the founding French settlers of Blue Lake, having landed in Trinidad in 1856. Her father, Henry Laverty, emigrated from New Brunswick in 1890. Her family moved to Eureka and eventually lived on Hillsdale Street in a wonderful old house. Her father had a barber shop on Second Street for years and also bred and trained pheasant and duck hunting dogs.

She was a graduate of the Nazareth Academy which is now St. Bernard's and of Eureka High School. Peg went to work at an early age as a clerk at Montgomery Wards. In 1946 she married, Denver Billings, an avid sportsman and fisherman. Together they owned and operated Tiny's Bar on Fifth Street in Eureka. Attached to the bar was a 10 lane bowling alley and later they took over the restaurant portion of the bar. Peg always said it was downhill from there.

Denver loved to hunt and fish, and Peg would often join him on his hunting trips although she said that she was a lousy shot and rarely caught a fish. She said that one time they were pheasant hunting and he went one way and she went the other. She found an abandoned cabin with a chair on the porch so she happily sat there all day, shooting her shotgun off occasionally so that Denver would think that she was trying to get something. They also had a fishing boat called "Tiny's Little Fisher" and would go out often to fish for the restaurant.

After they sold Tiny's, Denver continued working as a bartender at various establishments and Peg went to work for Ryan's Plumbing in Eureka. Denver passed away in 1975. Several years later, she met Max Gilroy at Fat Albert's during an H.E.R.O's fund raiser. The Pistol River Band was playing and Peg asked Max to dance. From then on they became tight friends and companions until his death in 1986. Together they had truly fine times.

Max was a prolific writer and had a column in the Arcata Union called the "Old Dropout". Max included Peg in many of his stories, leaving a legacy that her family will enjoy forever. They both were avid readers. He loved to cook and Peg hated it so indeed they were a fine fit. Weenie roasts on the beach, long walks around town. They both loved to read and Max was never without a pen in his hand, writing stories and limericks and plays. Max was a total ham and often dragged Peg into his capers. For awhile they became famous around Eureka for doing commercials for a local grocery store. The commercial featured "Little Egbert", one of a family of marionettes that Max created.

Peg sewed the clothes for them from children's clothes they would find at St. Vincent's. Peg never drove a car so she would either bicycle or walk everywhere she went. She volunteered at the old library for years and probably read every book on the shelves. She continued working even after the age of retirement. She was a long time member of H.E.R.O.'s and never missed a meeting.

When her niece, Loreen moved back to Humboldt County in 1995, she and Peg spent lots of time together, increasing the bond between them. Peg was one of a kind. ou always knew where you stood with Peg. She shot from the hip and when asked her opinion, she never beat around the bush. She had the blessing of being able to live in her own home and remained independent to the end. She had many life long friends in the Eureka area and out lived many more.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Denver Billings; brothers, Clyde, and Henry Laverty; sister, Gladys Laverty Muir, and her wonderful friends, Max Gilroy, and Shirley Levine.

She is survived by her nieces, Loreen Laverty Eliason, Alezz (Aileen Laverty) Laielen; nephew, Gerald C. Laverty; cousin, Marie Lawson of Paradise.