Remembering Frank Margesson:
In Video
Remembering Frank Margesson:
In Video
These pages are offered In Memory of
Lord Francis (Frank) Margesson
April 17, 1922 – November 11, 2014
© 2015 by Sri Sarada Society
“Swami Vivekananda at Ridgely” explores the history and nature of Swami Vivekananda’s association with the Leggett family and with the family’s estate. Known as Ridgely, this estate is located in Stone Ridge, New York. Frank and Betty Leggett, together with Betty’s sister Josephine MacLeod, played significant roles in helping Swami Vivekananda establish the foundation of a new Vedanta movement, not only in America, but also in Europe and in India itself.
Many of us who have been associated with Sri Sarada Society since its formation during the early 1990s feel blessed have come to know Frank Margesson. Frank was the grandson of Frank and Betty Leggett on his mother’s side and of Lord Mortimer and Lady Isabelle Margesson on his father’s side, all of whom were friends and supporters of Vivekananda. Frank and his wife Helena were the third generation to live on the Ridgely estate, which had been made holy by the presence of Swamiji. Vivekananda visited Ridgely three times. This included a ten-week stay known as “the Great Summer.” It was Frank’s wish that the estate’s close association with Swamiji be preserved and it was Sri Sarada Society’s privilege to work with the Margessons to bring about a broader awareness of Ridgely.
In 1997 the estate was acquired by the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, as a spiritual retreat center and place of pilgrimage: Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, http://ridgely.org.