Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Dies at Age 88

Margaret Rose Knight Sanford, the wife of former Duke University president, North Carolina governor and U.S. senator Terry Sanford, died Aug. 26 at Duke University Hospital. She was 88.

Mrs. Sanford, who lived at the Forest at Duke, was an avid philanthropist and patron of the arts. A Kentucky native and University of North Carolina graduate, she married her late husband, who led Duke from 1970 to 1985, in 1942.

"We are all aware of Terry Sanford's many contributions to Duke, the state of North Carolina and the country," Duke President Richard H. Brodhead said Monday. "But as the late Duke Provost Thomas Langford said at Sen. Sanford's funeral in 1998, ‘To recall Terry is to recall Margaret Rose. You really cannot think of one without the other.' He went on to describe her as a ‘helpmate, faithful, patient, supportive, creator of relationships, sharer of hopes, constructive critic, companion. All of these and more.'

"The Duke family mourns her loss, and our thoughts go out to her children, Betsee and Terry Jr., and family," Brodhead said.

A funeral service for Mrs. Sanford will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, in Duke Chapel. A reception will follow the service.

Parking for the funeral service will be available in the Bryan Center Parking Deck, off Science Drive.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Terry Sanford Performing Arts Institute at P.O. Box 2810, Durham, NC 27715.