Margaret "Peggy" Polenberg

Peggy Polenberg, 77, whose unmistakable laugh and instinct for connecting people followed her through a life in comedy, philanthropy, business and public service, died September 4, 2026, at home in Hudson, N.Y.

Peggy spent the 1980s at Caroline’s Comedy Club, working in publicity and talent booking during a formative period in New York comedy. Behind the scenes, she worked with comedians, managers, producers and television contacts, helping talent find audiences and opportunities. 

She left Caroline’s in 1992 and turned her attention to God’s Love We Deliver, then a growing organization delivering hot meals to New Yorkers living with AIDS. Explaining the change years later, Peggy would say that she had “spent the ’80s laughing.” By the 1990s, the world had changed, and she wanted to do something that helped people. At God’s Love, she helped create Sunday Night Supper, an annual benefit in which participating restaurants donated a portion of an evening’s receipts to the organization. 

Through the first Sunday Night Supper she met Myron Polenberg, at the time a graphic designer. They married in 1994. Peggy and Myron bought two buildings in Hudson in 2002 and combined them into a home. She soon became deeply involved in the city around her. Peggy served on the board of the Hudson Opera House, now Hudson Hall; on the City of Hudson Historic Preservation Commission; and as a commissioner of the Hudson Housing Authority, which oversees Bliss Towers. She was a local patron of the arts and hosted What’s Going On?, a radio program about the people, businesses and cultural life of the Hudson Valley. Peggy often described her particular talent as “connecting the dots,” bringing together people, ideas and opportunities that might otherwise never have found one another.

She eventually saw an opportunity in Hudson’s growing real-estate market, became a broker and founded Peggy Polenberg Real Estate. Of the many things she accomplished, owning and running a business of her own was among those of which she was proudest. Peggy’s success in these very different worlds was inseparable from who she was. People loved her. Her laugh was loud, infectious and impossible to mistake, and she loved to use it. She read voraciously, relished a good debate and fiercely defended people she believed were being treated unjustly. She was opinionated, generous, formidable and funny, a grand dame who took great pleasure in bringing people together.

Born Margaret Reed on March 13, 1949, in Miami, Florida, Peggy died with Myron by her side. Memorial details will be announced. Donations in her memory may be made to the Time & Space Limited Legacy Fund in Hudson.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, October 4, at 1 p.m. at Time & Space Limited, 434 Columbia Street, Hudson, New York, with a reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The TSL Legacy Fund.