LUGOFF - Memorial service for Margot Mary Rochester, 72, will be held Friday at 11:00 a.m. at Grace Episcopal Church. The Rev. Philip Whitehead will officiate. The family will receive friends Thursday from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Powers Funeral Home, Lugoff. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to River Bank Zoo Botanical Garden or Palmetto Health Hospice. Mrs. Rochester died Tuesday, October 28, 2008. Born in Los Angeles, Calif. she was the daughter of the late Thomas McAuliffe and Margot Peyser McAuliffe. A graduate of Hollywood High School in Los Angelis, Calif., she received her Bachelor of Art Degree from the University of Michigan. Margot earned her Master’s Degree from the University of South Carolina and later earned her PhD in reading from the University of South Carolina as well. She retired from Lugoff-Elgin High School after 28 years of teaching English and chairing the English Department. Mrs. Rochester authored “Earthly Delights” and “Down to Earth” gardening books. She was a free lance writer with regular columns in The State Newspaper and the Camden Chronicle. Margot was a Master Gardner and enjoyed speaking about gardening around the country. She was a member of Grace Episcopal Church. Surviving are her husband of 52 years, Richard James Rochester; children, Thomas “Tom” R. (Cindy) Rochester of Cornelius, N.C. and Dan (Bonnie) Rochester of Wilmington, N.C.; grandchildren, Haley Rochester, Drew Rochester, Gray Rochester, Morgan Rochester, and Margot Rochester.