Angela Mayrie Pope Margerum made her peaceful transition on May 10, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of 52, after a courageous journey with breast cancer. A passionate educator, imaginative spirit, devoted mother, and loyal friend, Angela lived a life that radiated creativity, commitment, and care.

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, to Rosemary and William Pope, Angela was their only child—a precocious, joyful presence from the very start. A prodigious reader and thoughtful observer, Angela seemed destined for a life of learning. At Shaker Heights High School, she excelled academically, danced with pride as a member of The Poms, and lit up the lives of friends who recall giant New Year’s Eve sleepovers and her unforgettable beauty—both inside and out.

Angela earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Hampton University, a historically Black university. She credited her parents and her experience at an HBCU with shaping her enduring pride in Black culture and identity. She later deepened her commitment to youth and education through her work as a Juvenile Probation Officer in Cleveland before pursuing graduate studies at Clark Atlanta University, where she received a Master of Science in Library and Information Science. There she met and married Marcus Margerum, the father of her child, and began a lifelong journey of service through libraries.

For more than 25 years, Angela served as a librarian and educator in Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and Milwaukee. To Angela, librarianship wasn’t just a job—it was a calling. She believed that libraries could dismantle invisible walls, spark imaginations, and change lives. For the past six years, she served joyfully as the Youth Services Librarian at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch of the Cleveland Public Library. There, she became affectionately known as “The Hip-Hop Librarian,” making learning come alive through rhyme, rhythm, and radical imagination. She was also the Chief Creative Officer of R.E.A.L.W.U.R.D.S. LLC, where she designed clever word-based merchandise and offered literacy coaching with flair.

But Angela’s proudest title was “Mom.” Her son, Matthew (“Matt”) Margerum, was the apple of her eye. She poured love, intention, and excellence into his upbringing—introducing him to Black art, culture, and pride, cheering at every performance, and beaming when he earned a full scholarship to Howard University. She called him her “Divine Sun”, and truly, he was the light in her life.

Angela also held family and friendship close. She remained deeply connected to her parents, sharing countless meals, visits, and memories. The loss of her beloved Aunt Rosalind Edwards in 2018 was profound, but the return to Cleveland allowed Angela to reconnect with the village that raised her—childhood friends like Herlinda Bradley Gadson and her cousins. She cherished her colleagues at the Cleveland Public Library and found unexpected love and laughter in her special bond with Todd Averyhart, a longtime friend who became her soulmate and companion, even in her final days.

Angela was a radiant original—fiercely independent, gently radical, and always intentional. She embraced a natural, holistic lifestyle before it was in vogue, and she had a gift for crafting messages that read like spoken word poetry. Her daily sign-off—“peace.love.light. SHINE!”—was more than a message; it was a mission.

Angela leaves behind her beloved son, Matthew Margerum of Chicago; her loving parents, Rosemary and William Pope of Cleveland; her devoted partner, Todd Averyhart; her niece, Jayda Hinds, extended family, treasured friends, and her professional family at the Cleveland Public Library.