Peggy lived in Patton, Pa., Phoenix, Az., and Leesburg, Fla. She received training as a nurse at Spangler Hospital, Spangler, Pa., for two years and joined the Womens Army Corps in September of 1943, serving from July of 1945 to March of 1946. Marguerite graduated from the Mason Hospital Nurses School in Long Island, NY, in November of 1946. She and her first husband James Portaro worked together at Pilgrim State Hospital in Brentwood.