Margaret Cost

Margaret Ruth (Rucker) Cost, a resident of Los Lunas, passed away peacefully at home on August 29th, 2024. Margaret was born in Roswell, New Mexico in 1941. She attended schools in Tularosa, Cloudcroft, Cimarron, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. She graduated from Las Cruces High School in 1959, and attended New Mexico State University. Her degrees included a bachelor’s of education, a bachelor’s of accounting, and a Master’s degree from the Anderson School of Management. 

Margaret was a very active hiker who spent a lot of time in the New Mexico mountains. One of her greatest hiking and backpacking accomplishments was hiking the entire ridge trail of the Manzano Mountains alone. She always said she didn’t have enough sense to be afraid. She just loved being in the mountains. 

Margaret was also an avid amateur photographer. She loved taking pictures and developing them in her darkroom at home. She enjoyed taking photos of wildlife, and when her children had left home, she took a trip to Alaska’s Brooks Falls to photograph the bears as they fished for salmon. 

Margaret was also a skilled quilt maker, and she gifted many beautiful quilts to various charities, as well as to her beloved family members. She was a member of quilting groups and found very dear friends there.

Margaret worked for Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) for many years. She held the position of Director of Rates. She was very good at her job and she made many lifelong friends there. 

Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, Edwin Deane Rucker and Vesta Marie (Ragsdale) Rucker. She was also preceded in death by her older sister, Jacqueline Rucker, and her dear husband, Thomas Bailey Cost. She is survived by her sisters, Dene Hollenberg, Lila Rucker, and Doris Milne (Bill), her children, Nathan B. Cost (Mary), and Rebecca Cost (Liz), and her grandchildren, Brandon Middleton (Kaylie), Beilen Nesbitt (Sam) and Belle Cost. She is also survived by her dear friend and neighbor Dora Gardea.

A memorial celebration will be held at the family home on September 22, 2024, at 1:00 in the afternoon. Margaret will be interred in the James Canyon Cemetery with many of her family members, including her husband Tom, her parents, her Aunt Mary and Uncle Luther Ragsdale, and her grandparents.

In Lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends plant flowers at their home in her memory, or donate to an animal protection organization such as Audobon, WWF, or the like.