Margaret Waters Brooks, a former longtime summer resident of Vineyard Haven, died peacefully at home in New Haven, Conn., on Nov. 7 of natural causes.

She was born on May 14, 1938, in New York city. Her father, Leslie W. Waters, was an engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers, who worked on WPA public works projects during the Great Depression, and then for the City of New York during construction of the aqueducts carrying water into New York City. Her mother was Violet Caddell Waters. Margaret spent her high school years in Roscoe, N.Y.

She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1959. She met Peter Brooks at Harvard College. They married in 1959, and during their 34 years of marriage, raised three children — Preston, Catherine and Nathaniel.

Margaret pursued life with a passion. She was a French teacher for many years, 18 of them at The Foote School in New Haven. Margaret then ran a successful real estate brokerage company, Audubon Associates. In addition, she tutored secondary school children at top schools in New York.

She excelled at playing the piano and the flute. She supported the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, and particularly its Bach’s Lunch Program. She was also a contributor to the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, reading books for others to hear. In addition, Margaret loved New Haven and promoted many civic programs that contributed to the revitalization of the city. She was also actively involved in the Yale University community, and was a Fellow at Ezra Stiles College.

An avid student of literature and the arts, she lived many years in France, spoke French fluently, and visited her lifelong friends there frequently. Recently, she voyaged to the Antarctic and India, and wrote passionately about her experiences there.

Margaret was especially fond of Martha’s Vineyard, and was a summer resident at her home on Hatch Road in Vineyard Haven for 30 years. Beginning each Memorial Day weekend, she spent countless hours tending her lovely garden at the home.

She is survived by her children, Preston, Catherine and Nathaniel, as well as her grandchildren, Sophie, Nicholas, Sam, Phoebe, Charlie and Oliver, who all love and miss her greatly.

A memorial service will be held on Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Neighborhood Music School, 100 Audubon street in New Haven.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Margaret W. Brooks Scholarship Fund at the Neighborhood Music School at neighborhoodmusicschoool.org, or to The Foote School in memory of Madame Brooks at footeschool.org.