Obituary for Margaret Croup Brudon

SILVER SPRING, MD — Margaret Croup Brudon, age 96, passed away on Friday, December 16, 2016, at the Chelsea Retirement Community, Chelsea, MI. She was born on February 1, 1920, in Pittsburgh, PA, the daughter of Lawrence E. and Elizabeth E. Croup.

Margaret was an extraordinarily bright child, skipping two grades and graduating two years early from high school. She went on to attend State Teachers College in Indiana, PA, (today known as Indiana University of Pennsylvania) graduating in 1940 with a B.S. in Public School Art. She taught art at the elementary school level and later pursued a career in medical illustration. As a medical illustrator she worked at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dentistry in the Cleft Palate Research Center for many years. Margaret also worked in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She illustrated several medical textbooks, many of which remain in print.

In 1970, Margaret was named President of the Association of Medical Illustrators. It was at the 1970 meeting where she met William Brudon, also a successful medical illustrator and professor at the University of Michigan. Bill and Margaret were married in Silver Spring, MD, on September 25, 1971. Margaret moved to Ann Arbor where she worked at U-M as a medical illustrator. Bill and Margaret remained active in the Association of Medical Illustrators, and together undertook several grand adventures including traveling to Oregon and Alaska. Following Bill’s retirement in 1984, Bill and Margaret launched Needham Press, an independent publishing company specializing in medical textbooks. In 1996, she was awarded the Association of Medical Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award.

In her younger days Margaret and her mother, who was widowed in 1952, were independent women who traveled all over the world. As two single women in a single family home, they took on many of the tasks that women didn't do in those days. Both were well ahead of their time as models for women’s rights. Margaret was devoted to her family and loved them very much. She always assisted however she could, and traveled to be with family, especially for the Christmas holidays, even when that meant traveling overseas to be with them. Margaret’s interests included drawing, researching her genealogy, cooking, sewing, reading - especially mysteries - caring for animals (dogs, cats, feral cats, birds) and traveling - both in the US and abroad (Europe and the Far East).

Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, Elizabeth and Lawrence Croup, her brother Lawrence, and her husband, William Brudon. She is survived by her nieces, Deborah Wisman of St. Augustine, FL, and Margaret Rogers of Dunwoody, GA, and her adopted family: Dave Brudon of Chelsea, MI, Jim Brudon of Pine Island, FL, and Claudia Brudon Ewald of McMinnville, OR.

Per Margaret’s wishes there will be no service. Memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of Huron Valley, 3100 Cherry Hill Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105. Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea.