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PLAINFIELD - Margaret (Margot) C. Locke, 81, of 137 Pleasant St., a longtime editor, publisher, and graphic designer of community newspapers, died Sept. 27, 2009, at home in the arms of her children after a short illness.

Born in Boston April 9, 1928, she was the daughter of the late James Wallace and Margaret Crane Craig of Marshfield. She attended secondary school at Emma Willard in Troy, N.Y., and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture from Smith College in Northampton in 1949. With a love for journalism, a powerful sense of community obligation and a staggering work ethic, she lent her talents to several small-town and regional newspapers over the years and served as a mentor to innumerable area journalists, graphic designers and composition artists in the process.

She co-owned the Echo, a weekly in Canaan, N.Y., in the early 1970s. Years later, in describing the responsibilities of small-newspaper publishers to address the needs of readers, she told of one such request from a reader who insisted that the announcement of a doughnut sale run on the front page. "After all, it's our newspaper," the reader said. That argument swayed her, and that was where the announcement ended up, she recalled proudly.

In 1985, she purchased the Country Journal, a newspaper in Huntington, where she served as publisher and editor until she sold the paper in 2004. Journalist B.J. Roche's 1987 story about community weeklies in Business and Economic Review of Western Massachusetts described the publication, which covers 16 towns in Hampshire, Hampden and Berkshire counties, as "the quintessential community newspaper." In 1988, the Hillside Pomona Grange surprised her with the Hilltown Community Citizen Award for taking on the newspaper and providing it with stable leadership. As she was well known for avoiding the spotlight, organizers awarded the honor the only way they could - by tricking her into covering the event for the newspaper.

She also worked at the Party Line in Lutz, Fla.; the Dalton News-Record in Dalton; and the Shelburne Falls and West County News in Shelburne Falls, where she established typesetting facilities. She also worked for several print shops and as a printing broker over the years. At both the West County News and the Country Journal, she undertook commercial typesetting and design projects when the newspaper was not in production. After selling the Country Journal, she continued providing graphic design services to one longtime client, Rowe Camp and Conference Center.

A resident of Plainfield since 1975, she represented the town on the Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee for many years and offered graphic design and computer talents to a number of community projects. For years, long before computer technology made "fonts" a household word, she set the type for and designed the annual town telephone directory legibly on one page of the town newsletter, the Plainfield Post. She was fascinated by computer technology, spending hours experimenting with techniques to make graphic design more productive. She was an early adopter of desktop computer design and production software, and from the time she bought her first computer, an Osborne, in 1984, she took delight in the promise that database and spreadsheet software held for the bottom lines of small businesses.

She is survived by her children, David R. Locke of Plainfield, James W. Locke of Springfield, and Evelyn L. Daly of Turners Falls; her stepchildren, Teddi E. Locke of New Orleans, Leslie L. Whitley of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Edwin A. Locke of Las Vegas; 10 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many close friends. To honor her wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial services. "That doesn't mean we can't have a party," her son Jim said, noting that a celebration of her life will take place "in the near future."

In lieu of flowers, donations in Margot Locke's memory may be directed to VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson, P.O. Box 329, Northampton, MA 01060.