Margaret Howland, 92; gave the needy her time, attention

Mrs. Howland, known as Peggy, “was the type of exceptional volunteer that’s hard to find these days,’’ said Anne Robertson, president of the board at the thrift shop.

The longtime resident of Needham and Beacon Hill divided her time among various local charities. She prayed with the sick and injured as a lay chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in her later years and sorted clothing at the thrift store, after helping it team up with the Home for Little Wanderers.

“She was a very bright woman and could, I think, intuit how to be with people by reason,’’ said the Rev. George Winchester, chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“She was charming to absolutely everyone,’’ Robertson said.

While she enjoyed being a board member for different organizations, “She wanted to be doing something so that her board work would be more meaningful, out in the field so to speak,’’ said her daughter, Mary Smoyer of Jamaica Plain.

Mrs. Howland, who was as comfortable mingling with her wealthy neighbors as with the people who benefited most from her charitable efforts, died Oct. 12 at Fox Hill Village in Westwood.

She had been on the way to an exercise class when she suffered a stroke that led to her death.

She was 92.

Her motto, included in notes she jotted down for family regarding funeral arrangements, was “to be steadfast in prayer, joyful in hope, and untiring in love,’’ her daughter said. “It’s very appropriate for her; she really did that.’’

Also, Winchester said, “she would challenge you intellectually if something came up that was of interest.’’

“She wasn’t of the era where she would be working for money, so she got involved right from the beginning and she had a good time,’’ Smoyer said.

In the 1950s, Mrs. Howland started volunteering for the Home for Little Wanderers, helping the child services facility sort through, mark, and sell donated clothing.

When the Home’s operations expanded so much that it needed additional space, Mrs. Howland suggested that it partner with the Thrift Shop of Boston Inc., which now gives all its proceeds to the organization.

But she also became known for her devoted attention to people who relied on her assistance or companionship. For years, she drove a blind woman around town to help her run errands. They had met through Companions Unlimited, part of the former Women’s Educational and Industrial Union.

Though not politically inclined, she was a social reformer, her daughter said. And her ability to work one-on-one with people came naturally, family and friends said.

“When you would come to her house, you would walk in, and it would just seem like she had been waiting for you, and she gave you her full attention,’’ her daughter said. “She knew who you were, and knew your children. She had a huge memory for people, and she was extremely nonjudgmental.’’

At her funeral, her grandchildren recalled that she was the one person they could go to with some issues.

“Her favorite thing to do was sit with people and talk with them about their lives,’’ said her son, Edward of Sherborn. “The most special gift she had was that everyone who knew her felt they had a unique relationship with her; everybody felt special around her.’’

Mrs. Howland was born in Utica, N.Y., and graduated from Utica Country Day in the 1930s. She worked for a time as a secretary in the school, before meeting her husband, George, at a party. The couple married in 1940. He died in 1983.

For years she was an amateur matchmaker, throwing what she dubbed “young people’’ parties to introduce potential matches, and her success rate was cited by many, including her son, who met his wife at one such gathering.

In her 70s, Mrs. Howland’s volunteerism took a new turn when she became a lay chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Whenever people were around, she was energized,’’ her son said. “That’s what gave her her whole being.’’

In addition to her son Edward and daughter Mary, Mrs. Howland leaves a daughter, Margaret of Marion; another son, George Jr. of Seattle; a sister, Catherine Cardamone of Clinton, N.Y.; six grandsons; five granddaughters; and 16 great-grandchildren.

Services have been held.