Audrey (Brown) Peel McCaw, 98, died on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at Heritage Health: Therapy and Senior Care in Litchfield.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Hough and Sons Funeral Home in Hillsboro is assisting the family.
Mrs. McCaw was born in 1924. She married Robert “Bob” Peel, and he preceded her in death. She then married Richard “Dick” McCaw, and he also preceded her in death.
She descended from one of the earliest settlers in what is now Montgomery County. Her family moved to the area 187 years ago, from the east, to what is now Butler. From Butler, her family moved to Hillsboro.
Mrs. McCaw’s relatives fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War. Family lore dates the Brown family back to descendants from the Mayflower. She was a member of one of the longest continuous families to reside in Hillsboro and Montgomery County.
She was a mother, educator, artist and community leader. She led the family on travel adventures throughout the country and to Europe. She had an enthusiastic interest in sports, movies and books. She never missed a St. Louis Cardinals game and read about 40 books a year. Even at the age of 90, she took a weekly film class with the Sarasota film society.
Mrs. McCaw was the first member of her family to attend college. After graduating from Hillsboro High School in 1942, she attended both the University of Illinois and Greenville College.
She spent many years teaching in Hillsboro and Coffeen, and even coach the Coffeen junior high school boys’ basketball team for one semester. She was a devoted fan of former students. She also spent several years as a travel agent at Hillsboro’s Happy Travel.
Mrs. McCaw was a longtime board member of the Hillsboro Public Library and the Oak Grove Cemetery. She was a lifetime member of the Hillsboro Study Group, Montgomery County Historical Society and Hillsboro Country Club. She was also a member of the Hillsboro Hospital Auxiliary, Hillsboro and Holmes Beach book clubs, Hillsboro First Presbyterian Church, Hillsboro Investment Club, Couples Club, Red Hat Ladies, the “Thirsty Thursdays” and the Hillsboro Lake PCA. She was a proud member of the Hillsboro bowling team called “The Punks,” whose team members were all under 5.5 ft. tall.
She loved going to Cardinals games, Hillsboro football and basketball games, to the St. Louis Municipal Opera and shopping trips to Stix Baer and Fuller in St. Louis. For 50 years, she spent the winter in Florida and the remainder of the year in Hillsboro. She was also an artist specializing in oil paintings of the Hillsboro community.
An enthusiastic fan of dining out, her motto has always been, “If you want to have my home cooked meal, I’ll make a reservation.”
Mrs. McCaw is survived by her daughter, Christy (husband George) Peel Barber of Georgetown, TX; son, Terry (wife Ann) Peel of Bethesda, MD; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren on the Peel side of the family; and seven grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild on the McCaw side.
In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by her parents.
Memorials may be directed to the Hillsboro Public Library.
Online condolences to the family may be left at www.houghfuneralhome.com.
