Marguerite Roller died peacefully on February 3, 2021 at the Golden Living Nursing Center in Bloomington, IN. She was born October 15, 1916 in Jackson Township of Decatur County, IN, the daughter of John T. & Mabel M. Purvis. Marguerite graduated from the Jackson Township High School in 1934 and attended clerical college in Indianapolis. On June 21, 1946 she married Howard M. Roller of Scotch Ridge, OH. They were married for 56 years until his death in 2002. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Hialeah, Fl, a suburb of Miami, where Howard had taken a job as an aircraft mechanic with the fledgling Eastern Airlines. There, Marguerite became actively involved in the First Methodist church, teaching Kindergarten, serving in the United Methodist Women in leadership roles, and assisting the elderly in the church, especially providing transportation to church meetings and helping them accomplish errands.
In 1977, Marguerite and Howard moved to Greensburg, IN to care for her mother. There, she thrived in her fondness for visiting, particularly with family and especially children. In Greensburg, she attended the First Presbyterian Church. At the age of 95, she gave up driving and moved to Bloomington in order to continue to live independently near her son and his family. She lived independently until the last year of her life.
Marguerite is survived by her son Dean (Carol) of Bloomington; grandson Michael Roller, Scott AFB, MO; grandson Paul Roller (Amy), great grandsons Jacob & Nate of Hickam AFB, HI; and granddaughter Karen (Josh) Brinegar, great grandson Ethan and great granddaughter Aubrie of Bloomington and many members of the Omer and Helen Lux family, numbering eight nephews, three nieces, and 138 third and fourth generations.
She is preceded in death by her parents John T. and Mabel M. Purvis, a brother John Mitchell Purvis, who was killed in WWII, a sister Helen (Omer) Lux of Shelbyville. She felt particularly close to her husband’s two brothers and eight sisters, children of Jay C. and Maude Hampton Roller of Scotch Ridge, OH. She often remarked how accepted she felt by the Roller family.
A Facebook Live Funeral service will be Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 1:30 pm on the Funeral Home Facebook Page. Rev. Lisa Schubert Nowling presiding. A public Visitation will follow from 2:30 to 4:30 pm following with CDC guidelines at the Gilliland-Howe Funeral Home. Marguerite will be laid to rest in a family graveside service in the Webster Township Cemetery in Scotch Ridge, Ohio.
The family would like to thank the staff of the Golden Living Nursing Center and Southern Care Hospice for the care she received in the last four months of her life. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg, IN or to the First United Methodist Church in Bloomington, IN. Online condolences can be made to the family at www.gilliland-howe.com
