Margaret Janet Stratton, 88, passed away peacefully on the evening of June 11, 2024, in Bentonville. The cherished only child of Frank and Nannie Woods Van Meter, she graduated from high school at 16 before earning a degree in education from the University of Arkansas.

In 1954, Margaret married the young, handsome Jim Stratton. She helped him earn a degree in chemistry, and he helped her adapt to country life. Together, they owned and operated several farming businesses in Arkansas and Missouri.

Margaret and Jim raised three daughters who praise her parenting skills. She dutifully helped with class parties, assisted with homework, and completed last-minute school projects. Margaret shined most as a grandmother, spending countless hours with her grandchildren, who rarely saw a request she did not fulfill. For them, no request was too burdensome, no ask was out of reach. They cherish the memories of all the time spent with their grandparents.

Margaret was preceded in death by Jim in 2014 after 60 years of marriage, and her parents, Frank and Nannie Van Meter. She is survived by three daughters and their husbands, Sheila and Mike Reese, Virginia and Shawn Price, and Donna and Robert Speed; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; her beloved rescue dog, Bear; and her honorary granddaughter, Patricia Bledsoe Freije, who called her faithfully every Saturday.

A service will be conducted at 1:30 p.m., Monday, June 17, at Benton County Memorial Park Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Rogers Humane Society.