DURHAM - In an era when political wives were expected to be seen more than heard, Margaret Rose Sanford had opinions and didn't hesitate to share them with the state's most powerful man.

The widow of Terry Sanford, former governor, senator and Duke University president, died Saturday at Duke Hospital after a brief illness. She was 88.

On Monday, friends and family members remembered a devoted wife and mother with a keen mind, quick wit and infectious smile. She loved books and flowers, starting a library at the governor's mansion and planting a rose garden on its grounds.

But Margaret Rose -- she was called by both names by everybody but her husband, who called her Rosie -- also is credited as a political force in her own right who helped propel him to become a seminal figure in the history of the state and the South.

"She was the quintessential partner for someone who was in the limelight as much as my dad," her son, Terry Sanford Jr., said Monday. "She was not shy. She would clearly tell him when he was leaning toward one thing and she thought he should do another."

A native of Hopkinsville, Ky., Margaret Rose came to UNC-Chapel Hill with plans to study drama at Playmakers Theatre. She ended up with a degree in English and, in 1942, a husband headed off to war.

While Terry fought as a paratrooper in Europe, Margaret Rose worked as a teacher. When he came home in 1945, the couple returned to Chapel Hill and settled into an apartment on North Street to start a family. Future UNC President William Friday and his wife, Ida, lived downstairs.

"She did a lot to make Terry Sanford who he was," Friday said Monday. "She had a strong sense of right and wrong, and she was brave enough to say so."

As Terry Sanford climbed through the ranks of the state's Democratic Party, his wife proved herself as a political asset -- charming potential supporters and filling in as an entertaining stump speaker.

In 1960, Terry won a bare-knuckle primary campaign for governor against an ardent segregationist in a state sharply divided on questions or race.

It was Margaret Rose, Friday said, who helped influence Terry to endorse Massachusetts Catholic John Kennedy for his party's presidential nomination over fellow Southerner Lyndon Johnson.

A voice of moderation, Terry would spend the next four years shepherding North Carolina through the civil rights struggle without the widespread violence seen in several other southern states. Newspaper profiles of the first lady at the time focused on her dress style, favorite recipes, proper poise and "excellent" figure. But Margaret Rose sought to make her family an example for the rest of the state, enrolling her children in Raleigh's first racially integrated public school.

When Terry was invited to become president of Duke in 1969, the two Tar Heels moved into a residence on campus and stayed there 15 years. Margaret Rose served on various boards, including those running the N.C. Symphony and East Carolina University.

"They were a really in-love couple, all those years through," said Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, a friend who is the great-granddaughter of the university's namesake. "She was always optimistic. She had that ability to lift you up."

After retiring from Duke, Terry surprised many by running for and winning a seat representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate in 1986. In an interview, Margaret Rose summed up her role as the couple prepared to leave for Washington.

"I help Terry with my outgoing personality. It's just something I can contribute to him," she said. "We're partners."

After 55 years of marriage, Terry died in 1998. Margaret Rose will be laid to rest next to him in a crypt inside Duke Chapel on Thursday.