Margaret “Peggy” Murray Seely, 94, of Vero Beach, passed away on April 11, 2016.
She is survived by her sons Scott Livermore (Jackie), of E. Harwich, Mass., Chad Livermore (Suzanne), of N. Palm Beach, and Nathan Hanford Seely of Vero Beach; her brother Robinson Murray, Jr. of Tequesta; her sister Anne (Nancy) Murray Morgan of Duxbury, Mass.; and many nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, even three great-grandnieces and nephews.
Her husband, Coleman predeceased her in 1990.
Born in Pittsburgh, July 29, 1921, she and her family lived in Wynnewood, Penn., before moving to France and England when her father was transferred for business reasons to Europe. From age 9 to 15 she attended the MacJannet School in St. Cloud, France where they lived and she began her ballet classes in Paris at age 9 which precipitated her commitment to her future career as a professional dancer.
Her father was transferred twice more which moved the family back from Europe to Scarsdale, N.Y. where she attended Scarsdale High School and to London, England where she attended Queen’s College, always continuing her dance, latterly at the Rambert School of Ballet.
The declaration of WWII expedited the family’s return to Scarsdale and the USA once more in September of 1939. She attended Vassar College, but left in order to continue concentrated dance training in New York City. During WWII she joined a USO troupe which spent two tours in the European Theater. She was, in fact, at Bastogne in Belgium at the time of the Battle of the Bulge and always remembered how devastating it was to see American troops retreating from the front lines before the counter offensive took place.
She always retained her love for Paris and was bilingual with French all her life.
Upon her return to New York postwar, she continued intensive ballet training and began auditioning. At this time she was cast in several Broadway musical shows as a dancer, in particular the hit “Finian’s Rainbow” as well as “Dream With Music.” These gave her the opportunity to work with choreographers Michael Kidd and Georges Balanchine.
While performing in New York she met Paul Livermore whom she married after they arrived in Hollywood. There, she was cast in several movies thus appearing as a dancer in “Showboat,” “Bandwagon” and “Singin’ In The Rain,” among other popular Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire films which still appear perennially on television.
After the marriage ended, she returned to the east coast with her two young sons.
She moved to Ridgefield, Conn., where she worked for the Ridgefield Press and met her second husband, Coleman Campbell Seely, with whom she had her third son. The family built a home in Duxbury, Mass., where she taught ballet, then moved to Hyannis, Mass., where they owned a cottage colony, The Breakwaters, whence they moved to Vero Beach.
Seely had a great sense of humor, was always energetic and fun to be with, warm hearted, faced circumstances both good and bad with optimism, and stood by her family with love through thick and thin, love which family and friends returned warmly.
Observances will be private and burial will be in the Mayflower Cemetery in Duxbury, Mass.
