Marjorie Hope Grant Daniel

Marjorie Hope Grant Daniel passed away peacefully at home in on Sunday, June 14, after a long illness. She was 91 years old.

Born in Austin, Texas on May 10, 1924, Marjorie was descended, on her father’s side, from some of Texas’ earliest pioneers. Her mother had been one six musical children born to a gifted violinist from England who led the family band in performances all across the Midwest and Southwest in the early part of the last century.

Marjorie’s father was a manager for the old Texas Employment Commission, and ran offices in several cities around the state. In the late 1930s the family came to Longview, where the pretty, vivacious Marjorie, nicknamed Playmate by her friends, met Robert S. Daniel Jr., the dashing, athletic, trumpet-playing Bob, the love of her life. The two got engaged while attending Kilgore College (where Marjorie was among the first Rangerettes!) But the war was on, Bob won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy, and, because cadets could not be married, the wedding had to wait three years. Marjorie enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied geology, French and literature. Finally, in June 1946, as only the second couple to wed in the new West Point chapel, Marjorie and Bob began a marriage that lasted 57 years.

During Bob’s 20-year military career, he and Marjorie moved every other year, on average, living in such places as in Okinawa, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Alexandria, Virginia, Selfridge Air Force Base outside Detroit, and Ankara, Turkey. Those years also blessed them with five children, Robert III, Timothy, David, Elisa and Joel. In 1966, after Bob retired from the Army, he and Marjorie returned to Longview. Bob began a second career teaching engineering and math at Kilgore, and Marjorie became active in the Parent Teacher Association, holding several regional and state leadership positions in the 1970s. Both were avid gardeners; Marjorie was especially proud of her hydrangeas, dahlias and gladiolus. Both were avid readers, as well, and supporters of progressive causes.

After the children were grown and Bob left teaching, the couple enjoyed a busy, happy retirement that lasted until Bob’s death in 2003. In the twelve years that followed, Marjorie’s health declined, but she never lost her optimism and love of simple pleasures. For her, family was everything. Her children and grandchildren will always gain strength from their memories of her unwavering support, her unconditional love, and her unfailing delight in their accomplishments.

Marjorie is survived by her children, except for David, who died before her, her grandchildren Danny, Grant, Rush, Hailey, Abbegail and Fisher, and her great grandchildren Megan, Sienna, Marjorie Hope (her namesake), Theodore Phineas, and Phoebe. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at Lakeview Funeral Home.