Margaret “Peggy” Werner Cosimano, daughter of William H. Werner and Margaret Budd Werner, passed away peacefully on Jan. 14, 2023, with her loving family by her side.
She was born in Oswego, New York, raised in Jamestown, New York and graduated from Jamestown High School. Peggy attended the University of Buffalo and graduated from Buffalo General Hospital with a Diploma in Nursing. She graduated from SUNY Empire Buffalo with a degree in Human Development. She attended graduate school at SUNY Buffalo State in Art Therapy.
Initially she was a staff nurse, then a Head Nurse in the 1st Primary Nursing unit at Samuel Merritt Hospital in Oakland, California, then Director of Education at Herrick Hospital, Berkeley, California, Associate Director of Nursing at San Joaquin Community Hospital, Bakersfield, California and Nursing Supervisor at St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick.
She co-authored the initial PRIMARY NURSING: A Model for Individualized Care by Mosby which she taught, implemented and consulted with hospitals for 10 years in California. Her holistic approach to nursing led her to become a Certified Hypnotherapist. She taught Clinical Hypnosis for Health Professionals at Cal State Bakersfield, and many self-hypnosis courses at colleges in Buffalo, New York, on stress and health-related issues. She was in private practice in Bakersfield, California, Hamburg, New York and Warwick, New York.
Peggy is survived by her very loving husband, Anthony “Tony” Cosimano who was her high school sweetheart. They separated when he went to college and reunited after 23 years. They had been married for 40 years.
Peggy is also survived by their daughter, Nancy Morgan, three granddaughters: Brittany Reynolds (Jason), Maggie Fitzgerald (Shawn) and Elizabeth Smith (Zachary) and eight great-grandchildren: Owen Reynolds, Maeve Fitzgerald, Amelia Reynolds, Fiona Fitzgerald, Wesley Reynolds, Ronan Fitzgerald, Katherine Smith, and Eloise Nancy Smith, all from the Rochester, New York area.
She is also survived by her stepchildren: Tonette Jacob (Doug), Pelham Manor, New York, Marc Cosimano (Kathy), Blauvelt, New York, Adriana Davidson, Haverstaw, New York, and step-grandchildren Max Jacob (Alice), Les Jacob (Lydia), Marco Jacob, Elliott Davidson (Shannon), Otto Davidson, Olivia Cosimano, and Anthony Cosimano.
She is also survived by her niece Liza Zimmer Rogers (Mark) and their sons Austin and Hunter, nephews: Dean Zimmer (Stacy) and children Madison (Corbin), Garrett and Gordon, Spencer Zimmer and children Sam, Kathryn (Cody), Alicia and Nickolas, all from Wichita, Kansas. She is also survived by Todd Werner (Teresa) and daughter Ava from Austin, Texas, and Cory Werner (Brooke) from Fort Worth, Texas, all of whom she loved dearly.
She is also survived by her Stockholm, Sweden, family, Svante Norgren and daughter Rebecca, Lisa Norgren Benedictsson (Jonas) and children Anna and Jack. Meeting them in 2016 and knowing them was a life changing experience for her.
Peggy was predeceased by her sister Virginia Zimmer, her brother-in-law Russ Zimmer, her nephew Matthew Zimmer, her brother William Werner and her baby sister, Ann Christine Werner, all of whom she loved dearly.
A memorial to celebrate Peggy’s life will be held this spring.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Peggy’s name to Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties, 800 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, New York 12550 or Winslow Therapeutic Center, 1433 Route 17A, Warwick, New York 10990.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Ave, Warwick, New York 10990. To send an online condolence, visit www.lsvpmemorialhome.com.