Marjory "Margie" Jane Van Valkenburg

100 years old Sun City Aliante, North Las Vegas, NevadaCalled to the Lord: January 26, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada Born: October 4, 1924 Chicago, Illinois to Parents: Rose Kosina Babcock and William Babcock Married: Leo F. Van Valkenburg. Education: Master of Science, in Education, University of Southern California

Lifetime Teaching Credential, State of California. Superintendent’s Credential, State of Colorado. Bachelor of Science, in Education, California State Los Angeles

Survived by: Cynthia Lee Van Valkenburg (daughter) Pre-deceased by: Rose Kosina O’Donnell (Mother) Claudia Carol Coburn II “Candy” (daughter) Claudia Carol Coburn (daughter) Leo F. Van Valkenburg (husband) William Babcock Jr. (brother) William Babcock Sr. (Father) Victor O’Donnell (Step-father)

Donations in Marjory’s Memory:

CEC Seabee Historical Foundation,

Seabee Memorial Scholarship [email protected]

American Stroke Association, stroke.org/donate

Special Memories for Marjory: Eulogy

My Mother had a fascinating life and there are many memories to cover in 100 years.

Marjory did have trials and challenges along the way. As a young child at 4, she overcame Scarlett Fever and Diphtheria. In the age before extensive antibiotics- this was an amazing feat of determination and the power of prayer. She attended Our Lady of Bethlehem, a boarding school in the Chicago area and graduated from the 8th grade. Growing up during the Great Depression era she would tell me there was nothing great about the Great Depression, just hard times. Next my Mom, went on to Downer’s Grove High school in 1942 where she was a majorette for the band and did high platform diving. This was at the height of WWII, so everyone was dedicated to the war effort. She loved Chicago- Root Beer Floats, Hot Dogs, Cracker Jacks along with the Chicago Cubs. Her freshman year she attended the University of Michigan and was a member of the Tri Delta National Sorority. Her stepfather Vic was transferred to Southern California to work for General Motors. They settled in the San Fernando Valley and then Glendale.

“My Mom told me this story- it was freezing cold in Michigan and Chicago-ice and snow everywhere. When Vic asked us if we wanted to go Southern California, we were watching the Rose Parade with sunshine and flowers. It was an instant decision to say “Yes”! They took the Zephyr train out to California. To earn money to go to college again, she did a short stay in Las Vegas and worked at the Thunderbird and Frontier Casinos.

In Southern California, she got a job doing the mail runs with TWA airlines before it was even an airline. She graduated from California State Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in Education and an Elementary teaching credential. She took additional courses at California State Northridge to obtain a Secondary teaching credential and became a Movie studio teacher. Mom was on some famous movie sets: National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne for his Westerns, and Desilu Studios with Lucille Ball. My sister Candy was a successful child actress, and I did my share of commercials and television episodes.

A cute story about how my Mom met my Dad- she walking by Fire Station 28’s (4th Street and Figueroa) from a job interview at the Hilton when my Dad asked her if she would like a cup of coffee. My Mom never drank coffee. She declined at first and then said yes! They were married 66 years plus and my Dad was on the L.A. City Fire Department for thirty years along with many members of his family.

My sister Candy and I were children of the 50’s and 60’s. On top of doing movies and commercials, we did tap lessons, ballet and Hula dancing plus piano lessons. My Mom was an avid tap dancer herself. We raised Rough Collies, and our Teddy Bear and Dinah won championships at Madison Square Garden. After that we had poodles, Bonjour and Bon Bon and recently Shih-tzus: Perky, Cutie, Tootsie- Missy, Marty, Goldy and the puppies.

How she did all this and taught 38 years for the Simi Valley Unified School District for third grade at Crestview Elementary was amazing. Her favorite thing was teaching them, “This Land is Your Land” from the Peter, Paul and Mary for Christmas shows and cursive handwriting which she was concerned about becoming the lost art. At Crestview, she had great teaching partners including Colonel Joe Mahr who had been with Patton in WWII. The last book she was reading was a new account of their campaigns.

We got to the rink every day, to train in figure skating to the Elite level. Mom gave up her summers so we could train at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and Lake Placid, New York. She made sure we got to the best coaches: Barbara Roles Williams, Jerry Rehfield, Frank Carroll, Mary Couense, John Nicks, Jeanne Westwood, Gus Lucci, and Carlo Fassi. My sister and I competed in singles and ice dancing, and I added the pairs category. We had support from other dedicated skating Moms: Mrs. Walsh, Alice Starbuck, Mrs. Gardner, Mrs. Littlefield, Mrs. Jackman, and Mrs. Bowman. My sister had a professional skating career with Ice Capades and 13 years with Ice Follies/Holiday On Ice. I became a Junior National Champion and represented the United States Internationally at the Senior Pair level. Most of all she just wanted us to do our best- and if we didn’t like the results, we needed to train harder or smarter to be better than our competitors. Our competitors were always our friends and have remained so over the years. I had my Mom, join me three times when we skated at the World Professional Championships in Jaca, Spain. She helped me drive cross country in my little Toyota Corolla when I attended Harvard University in Boston.

In addition, after she retired from Simi Valley my parents reestablished Valley Professional School that they had started in 1961 for actors, gymnasts, singers and skaters. They successfully ran Sherman School in the San Fernando Valley with the college prepatory divisions of Cambridge Eaton and Brighton. They had many famous students go on to the Olympics, the Broadway stage, Hollywood actors and Nashville country western singers. Country western music was my Mom’s favorite genre but loved Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” and Ray Charles version of “Georgia on My Mind,” Big bands and Lawrence Welk.

Our greatest heartbreak came in 2020 when my sister Candy and Dad passed away in the same year. We tried to eat Thanksgiving dinner and just couldn’t. We moved to Las Vegas after that in 2021 and we kept busy with different activities and visiting our friends here with Birthday get togethers, watching skating competitions and answering Jeopardy every night.

My Mom attended three Olympic games and went to Russia twice even going on the trans-Siberian railway. I took my parents to China and Thailand and my Mom enjoyed cruises to Alaska and Mexico with Dad. Our last long distance road trip was to Chicago to bid farewell to our Aunt Francis and to visit our Aunt Lee. We were also lucky enough to visit our relatives on the Van Valkenburg side in Missouri. We talked the whole way- and it gave us a great opportunity to spend quality time together. We stayed true to family, church, school and conservative values. Marjory, so appreciated being a member of the St. John Neumann Church and playing trivia night with Father Marc. We couldn’t believe that we won.

So, as you can tell, Marjory had a full and busy life with love and admiration by all. Now as she makes her final journey back to Chicago and on to heaven, we can keep her in our hearts forever. The Kansas City Chiefs were her team and that’s one of the last items I was able to share with her. A thank you to all who cared and loved her. Please have some Cracker Jacks or a Root Beer Float in her memory.

Your loving daughter,

Cynthia