Margaret Groening, Inspiration Behind Marge Simpson, Dies at 94

A spokesperson for 'The Simpsons' confirms
that the mother of the show's creator Matt
Groening passes away in Portland.
" The
Simpsons "
creator Matt
Groening
mourns the
death of his
mother
Margaret
Groening who
passed away
in her sleep
on April 22.
She was 94.
"The
Simpsons"
character
Marge was named after her. A spokesperson
for "The Simpsons" confirmed the passing.
However, Matt was not available for
comments.
Margaret's passing was informed in The
Oregonian obituary on May 6, which was also
posted online. According to the obituary,
Margaret was born as Wiggum on March 30,
1919. Her parents met in a boat when they
migrated to the U.S. from Norway. Margaret
taught English before she got married to her
classmate Homer Groening. She decided to
marry Homer because he made her laugh a lot.
Margaret is survived by her brother Arnold;
her children Mark, Matt, Lisa, Maggie; eight
grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Homer, who was a World War II veteran,
passed away in 1996. Margaret's daughter
Patty, who inspired the name Aunt Patty,
passed away in January 2013.
Fans of the animated show left warm-hearted
comments in the obituary guest book. A fan,
Julie Burkhart, wrote, "What a shame. She was
a delightful woman. I hope one of the
grandchildren got that beautiful blue hair. It
would be a shame if her lovely features were
not passed down to someone in the family."
Another fan John McFarland left a comment,
"RIP Margaret. You may have been born a
Wiggum, and married a Groening, but you died
a Simpson."