Margaret Huntley Main, oldest living Tournament of Roses queen, dies at 102
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Margaret Jayne Huntley Main, the oldest living Rose Queen in Tournament of Roses history, has died at the age of 102.
Main, the 1940 Rose Queen, passed away on Nov. 24 in Auburn, Calif., the Tournament of Roses announced on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
Born on June 1, 1921, in Hollywood, Calif., then Margaret Huntley, seemed destined for a role in the parade. She began to watch the Rose Parade at the age of 5, mesmerized by 1926 Rose Queen Fay Lanphier, then a future Miss America.
“I saw my first tournament exactly when I was 5 and a half,” she said during an interview with CBS Los Angeles on June 2, 2021. “I remember watching the queen go down the street, and my daddy took my face and said, ‘Margaret Jane, there’s more to the parade than the queen’. But he was wrong.”
Margaret Jayne Huntley Main, the oldest living Rose Queen in Tournament of Roses history, has died at the age of 102. Throughout her life, she remained close to the parade and embraced generations of participants. (Courtesy, Tournament of Roses Assn.)
By 1926, her family had moved from L.A. to Pasadena, propelled by her father Almore Huntley’s work in real estate in the growing region.
With the $25,000 commission he made on the sale of a property at the corner of what became Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, the family moved to Pasadena, settling in a small home on Villa Street amid losses during the Great Depression.
She was a student at Pasadena City College when Rose royalty beckoned in 1939. In what has become a long-lasting tradition, she would be chosen as the parade’s top ambassador in 1940. That year, grand marshals were Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and Tournament of Roses President was J.W. McCall, Jr.
It would not be long before Hollywood came knocking.
Howard Hughes visited then Margaret Huntley at her parents’ home to sign her to a movie contract, according to the Tournament of Roses. But she declined, opting instead to marry Robert Main later that summer after her Rose Queen reign.
Actress Jane Russell was ultimately cast in “The Outlaw,” which Hughes had envisioned Huntley for as leading lady.
She would go on, however, to live a robust life, with a longlasting devotion to the Rose Parade.
Margaret Jayne Huntley Main, the oldest living Rose Queen in Tournament of Roses history, has died at the age of 102. Throughout her life, she remained close to the parade and embraced generations of participants. (Courtesy, Tournament of Roses Assn.)
She rode in several parades on a float built for past queens, established the Queens’ Alumni Association, attended the Rose Queen Announcement and Coronation ceremony and the annual Rose Queens Luncheon until she retired from travel in 2019.
She and her husband, Bob Main, performed in the Altadena Theater Guild for 12 years. They were successful photojournalists for several years. They ran a preschool at their Pasadena home. They co-authored “A Rose Queen is Forever: The Story of Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses and Its Queens.”
At age 38, she returned to college, and when Bob’s work took the family to Sacramento, she taught kindergarten for 22 years. She would earn three master’s degrees.
Main authored “From Me to We,” a six-book multicultural curriculum for early childhood. It was adopted by the state of California in 1979. She also published many children’s stories and artcles on classroom discipline and activities.
All the while, her Rose Parade legacy were never far, and she embraced them.
She personally met every Rose Queen from the first, Hallie Woods, who presided during the 1905 Rose Parade, to 2020 Rose Queen Camille Kennedy, the 102nd Rose Queen, according to the Tournament of Roses, which celebrated her 100th birthday with her in Auburn, in Northern California.
She was fitted once again with her 1940 Swarovski crystal crown.
Her final correspondence was to congratulate 2024 Rose Queen Naomi Stillitano, after her coronation in October.
“Rose Queen Margaret Jayne Huntley Main, a timeless symbol of grace, will forever adorn the history of the Rose Parade,” Rose Parade officials wrote in a prepared statement.
Margaret Jayne Huntley Main, the oldest living Rose Queen in Tournament of Roses history, has died at the age of 102. Throughout her life, she remained close to the parade and embraced generations of participants. (Courtesy, Tournament of Roses Assn.)
Main was preceded in death by her husband Robert Main and daughter Linda Main Hack. She is survived by her sister Alyce Main Levy; sons John Main of Boulder City, Nev., and Martin Main of Grass Valley, Calif.; and daughter Sandra Main of Auburn, Calif. Grandchildren are Michelle Hack McCalmont, Melodie Hack, Jennifer Main, Susan Main Paquete, Pharoan Johnson, Toni Main and Michael Main. Great grandchildren are Melinda McCalmont, Cayman and Cambria Johnson, Annika and Kaden Main, and Taylor, Brooke, Hunter, and Wyatt Main.
A celebration of life service will be held in Main’s hometown of Auburn, Calif. A private interment will be held at Roseville Cemetery in Roseville, Calif.