Margaret Groening, inspiration for "The Simpsons" mom, dies at 94

Margaret Groening, the mother of "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and inspiration for the matriarch character on the long-running series, has died, according to an obituary in The Oregonian. She was 94.

Groening died peacefully in her sleep on April 22, the obituary said. Her husband, cartoonist Homer Groening, died in 1996.

Homer and Marge, of course, are the names of the parents on "The Simpsons." And those aren't the only characters whose names came from Groening's family.

Margaret Groening, born Margaret Wiggum in 1919, married high school sweetheart Homer because "he made her laugh the most," according to the obituary. She is survived by her brother, Arnold; her children, Mark, Matt, Lisa and Maggie; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Patricia, died in January 2013.

In a separate article, The Oregonian pointed out that while Groening had said in interviews that she didn't go by Marge, that "didn't stop fans from equating her with the ever-tolerant, ever-doting mother on 'The Simpsons.'"