Peggy Starkey

Margaret “Peggy” Eugenia Starkey, a retired college professor and co-founder and Chair of the Interreligious Council of San Antonio, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on August 13, 1941. She died on February 23, 2026.

Peggy graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1959 and earned a BA with distinction in Psychology from Southern Methodist University in 1963. While at SMU, she was recognized by Who’s Who Among American Universities and Colleges and admitted into Mortar Board. She was a member of Delta Gamma Sorority. She went on to earn a Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Theology, and Master of Philosophy at Union Theological Seminary, followed by a Ph.D. in Philosophy.

She taught in the religion department of Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 1980 to 1989. Returning to San Antonio, she taught at Our Lady of the Lake University and concluded her academic career in the religion department of the University of the Incarnate Word, where she served from 1992 until 2021.

In 1996, Peggy and her husband, Archie Nations, co-founded the Interreligious Council of San Antonio. As Chair, she brought together representatives from twelve different faiths, creating the first interfaith organization in the city to include members from Eastern religious traditions. She led the Council until March 2020. She also served on the United San Antonio Commission at the invitation of Mayor Ed Garza and was President of the National Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies from 2002 to 2004.

Peggy’s lifelong faith was rooted in her youth at Alamo Heights Methodist Church, where she first fell in love with the beauty of hymns. An accomplished pianist, she carried that love of music with her throughout her life. She remained deeply connected to Alamo Heights United Methodist Church and found great peace in quiet hours spent observing the wildlife at her home in Garden Ridge.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Col. Joseph Wheeler Starkey and Irene Dorothy (Vogt) Starkey; her husband, Archie Lee Nations; her sister, Jo Ann Starkey Garner; and her niece, Vivian Garner Pine. She is survived by her nieces, Margaret Susan Garner Gillis and Kathryn Lynn Garner; great-nephews Robert Steven Pine Jr. (Deanda), Nicolas Aiden Scott, and Andrew James Gillis; and great-great-niece and nephews Ellie Pine, James Pine, and Garner Pine.