Margot Siegel Obituary (1923 - 2015)

Margot Siegel, age 91, of Miami, FL, formerly of Minneapolis, passed away February 24, 2015. Margot had an over-65 year career as journalist, publicist, author, columnist, and real estate entrepreneur in Minnesota, New York, and Miami, Florida, where she resided for the last fifteen years. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 2, 1923, she went on to graduate from University High School in 1940 and the University of Minnesota in 1944 with a B.A. degree in journalism and advertising. She was also the first teaching assistant in the University’s then-new American Studies program. She was a news and feature writer in the American Red Cross during World War II and later became a reporter and editor at Women’s Wear Daily in New York, after a stint in Hollywood as a publicist. She also was an overseas correspondent in 1947-48 for Fairchild Publications, the parent company of Women’s Wear. Margot returned to Minneapolis in the ‘50’s and married the late attorney Harold Siegel, with whom she had two children, William and Sandra, and three grandchildren. She became the public relations director of Walker Art Center in the 1960’s, followed by stints as a feature writer and columnist for the “Minneapolis Star & Tribune,” Corporate Report Magazine and Twin Cities Magazine. For 10 years she was a columnist for Skyway News and was the author of “Look Forward to a Career! Fashion,” (Dillon Press) which went into three printings. She contributed to the “Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.” (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005). She was the co-owner of Siegel-Hogan Enterprises for 17 years, and after her husband’s death in 1989, took over his real estate company which became Siegel Properties. Margot is the founder of the Palm Spring (Calif.) Fashion Group and the Friends of the Goldstein Museum at the University of Minnesota. She was a member of the Overseas Press Club of America and was a charter member of the now-defunct Minnesota Press Club. She is also a member and former director of the Mpls/St. Paul Fashion Group. She has been included in Who’s Who of American Women and other publications and has many local and national awards, including the University of Minnesota’s Alumni Service Award. Her mother was Jeanne Auerbacher, the well-known buyer of Dayton’s Oval Room in its heyday of the ‘40’s and ‘50’s. Her father was William Auerbacher. Margot is survived by son, William; daughter & son-in-law, Sandra Siegel & C. Douglas Gluck; grandchildren, twins, David and Steven Gluck and Celine Roglin. Funeral service FRIDAY 12 NOON, TEMPLE ISRAEL, 2324 Emerson Avenue South, Minneapolis. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to donor’s favorite charity. NO SHIVA.