Mrs. Peg Ley

Bob and Peg Ley

Every girl who graduated from Central Catholic in the 60's, 70's or 80's had one vital aspiration: to be just like Mrs. Ley.

GICC's business teacher for a quarter of a century, Peg Ley was tall and lovely and always dressed to the nines. Her makeup, hair and jewelry were flawless. More than that, she loved us. Mrs. Ley truly believed every one of her students was the most exceptional child ever born - second only to her own son R.J. 

Peg's beauty radiated from the inside out. Back in the late 50's when she was a young wife and mother, she was even voted the Mrs. Nebraska state runner-up - an honor for which she was awarded a brand new gas stove and dryer. 

In the words of the late Bill Dunn, Peggy's former student and managing editor of the Grand Island Independent, Peg Ley was "the most beautiful woman in Grand Island, Nebraska."

Even now, Bill's words rattle her.

"I don't want you to write that," she orders me. "You won't put that in your blog, will you?"

Bob and Peg on their
wedding day

Absolutely I'm putting it in. If she wants to refute Bill Dunn, I tell her, she can write her own blog. "You're only 97," I remind her. "Get with it."

As impossible as it seems, Mrs. Ley is just three years shy of the century mark yet remains every bit as lovely and stylish as ever. If macular degeneration has stolen much of her eye sight, her mind is still lively and curious. And her laugh? Peg Ley still erupts with glorious laughter which, for some mysterious reason, always makes me think of Betty Crocker. Mrs. Ley somehow has the gift of transporting me back to the warm kitchen of my childhood where a fragrant cake bakes in the oven and my own adored mother hovers close by.

She and her late husband Bob - Central Catholic's former much loved principal, teacher and coach - were once the reigning couple of those early halycon days at Central Catholic. Mr. Ley's dry humor was legendary, and Mrs. Ley's wondrous voice made her a favorite on the GILT stage as the lead in several musicals and even as a soloist in Central Catholic's annual Christmas presentation of "The Messiah". Their son R.J., a 1970 graduate, completed the talented Ley family, and all of them were beloved by the school community.

Peg's career at Central began just shortly after Central Catholic had completed the second floor of the facility in 1961. She was teaching at St. Mary's but was asked to accompany St. Mary's new crop of eighth graders over to Central. The class of '66 was the first eighth grade class at Central and the first to inhabit the just-finished second floor hallway. 

Peg herself was the only female lay teacher at the time. "All the other female teachers were Sisters," she said. So strict were Catholic Church rules back in the day that the Sisters were secluded at lunch time and dined only with each other. Mrs. Ley was the lone female in the faculty lounge at lunch time. It seemed alien to Peg who had only joined the Church when she married Bob.

"I had hardly ever known a nun or a priest before I moved to Grand Island," she recalls, "but the Sisters and priests became so important. They became wonderful friends to Bob and me."

Peg will never forget the death of Father James Naughtin, GICC's first superintendent. He was responsible, Peg said, for starting the institution and creating the family environment at Central Catholic. A talented man with a beautiful Irish tenor, he was actually performing an Irish medley on stage when he collapsed of a fatal heart attack in his early 40's.

"Bob and I never thought we'd get over his death," Peg said. "It was such a blow to all of us. He really was a saint and so important to our family and the school." 

Father Paul Button, the young, engaging and endearing pastor of Blessed Sacrament, died on Easter Sunday in 1972, and at Central Catholic where he was so well liked, teachers and students alike felt the blow of his untimely death. During those difficult deaths, the Leys were like a second set of parents and put aside their own distress to comfort hundreds of kids. Peggy is still close to so many of those students.

"I've made many lasting friendships with my students and really, truly loved teaching at Central," she says. "We had an outstanding group of kids - they were so special - and I really loved them."

Peg with family. Top: Julia, DJ, R.J., Barb,
Nate. Bottom: Peg, Kelsey

Peg retired in 1985, much to the sadness of all of us at GICC. Still, she stayed active with her many, many friends and enjoyed her life with Bob. R.J., their son, married his beautiful Barbara, and soon Bob and Peg had two grandsons - Nate and DJ. To say those boys were the light of Bob and Peg's lives would be an understatement. No two grandchildren were ever loved as much as Nate Ley and DJ Ley. 

"We hit the jackpot," Peg beams whenever she talks about her small, close-knit family.

When they weren't spending time with their kids, Bob occasionally substitute taught and even came back to Central Catholic to coach the girls' golf team garnering two back to back state championships in 1997 and '98. Peg loved her part time job at the mall greeting patrons at the Customer Service desk which was, who are we kidding, the most perfect job in the world for gracious, welcoming Mrs. Ley.

When Bob's health began to deteriorate, Peg gave up her job at the mall and devoted every second to her husband. Bob passed away on May 26th, 2010, just one day before their 62nd wedding anniversary. It was, for Peggy, an inconsolable loss, but her family, former students, and many friends helped her bear Bob's death. At Bob's wake service, student after student rose to speak of Bob's humor and the way the Leys were a rock steady presence in their high school lives. R.J. spoke of his parents' great wealth - not in the financial sense but in the way they were so rich in friends.

"My dad had everything," an emotional R.J. said.

For seven years Peggy remained in the townhouse she and Bob had shared, but when her eye sight began to fail, R.J. and Barb persuaded her to live with them. With the extraordinary help of one of Peg's favorite students, Jacalyn Nabity Ayoub, Peg boxed up a lifetime of memories and moved to Quincy, Illinois, with her children. Just recently, R.J. and Barb and Peg moved again to a beautiful home in Oro Valley, Arizona. Relaxing on the patio every evening, Peg watches the sun set over the mountains and enjoys a cocktail with her kids.

Four generations: Nate, Peg holding Sydney Robert, R.J.

"They take care of all my needs and are so loving and caring," she says about R.J. and Barb.

Her little family is growing. Grandson DJ is with his lovely girl Julia. Best of all, her grandson Nate and wife Kelsey presented Peg with her first great-grandchild. Sydney Robert is six months old and named after both grandfathers and one very special great-grandfather. Peg travels often with R.J. and Barb to California just to hold baby Sydney who, she marvels, changes practically before her eyes.

In spite of her 97 years, Peg is always up for a road trip. Just this last month, she and her kids returned from a long six weeks on the road to visit friends and family. 

"I sat in the backseat with all the luggage and was very contented," Peg says. 

On the trip, she reminded her kids that her own 96-year-old grandmother passed in the back seat of the car during a long-ago family road trip. "You might want to look back here once in a while just to make sure I'm not dead," she suggested, laughing her wonderful laugh.

Peg Ley might be 97, but she's still elegant and funny and gracious. Her longevity and toughness may very well come from her family roots. Peg's father, Clinton Jones, was the long time superintendent of Minden Public Schools for 32 years while Peg grew up. He and Peg's mother raised their children to work hard, be mindful of the people in their lives, and to lean on their faith. So well loved and respected was Peg's father that the Minden middle school is still named for him: C.L. Jones Middle School.

Our Mrs. Ley

Peg is a credit to those good people from Minden. Even now, after losing her husband, her eye sight, and much of her independence, she is only grateful for her family and credits her faith for anchoring her life in every way.

"What is inconceivable is believable if you have trust in God," she says. It's her favorite quote and one which she wishes to gift her many former students. "I put myself in God's hands every day, and I've discovered that if you can really do that and trust Him, you erase the worry from your life. If I find myself worrying," she says, "it's because I'm not trusting Him enough."

Peg knows God directed her life in every way - to her beloved Bob, of course, and to the life they created together in a small town in Nebraska.

"God's certainly the one who brought me to Grand Island Central Catholic!" she peals into laughter.

And there's nothing so nice in the whole world as Mrs. Ley's glorious laugh.