Marjorie Mae Beyler

She was born November 23, 1923, the eldest child of James and Mabel (Kennedy) Savage in Marion, Indiana, where she attended school and spent summers nearby on her grandparents’ farm. Her father’s early death in a car/train accident forced Marjorie to grow up quickly, looking after her little sister and sharing in her mother’s concerns.

Marjorie met her future husband, Arthur Lewis Beyler, when they were both teenagers. He was pitching a baseball game against the Marion team and she was sitting behind the water fountain he returned to again and again. They married in 1943, and spent their first months together traveling from one Army base to another as he completed basic training, learned to ski (Camp Hale), and studied the management of pack animals (Camp Swift) in preparation for deployment in the 10th Mountain Division. After WWII, she accompanied him as he completed his education at DePauw University and UCLA in the field of endocrinology. A job opportunity at the pharmaceutical company, Sterling Winthrop Institute, took the couple to Rensselaer, NY, where they built a house and settled down to raise two daughters.

Marjorie was a homemaker for most of her life, supporting her husband and children in every way she could. She excelled in a variety of domestic skills including crewel embroidery, theorem painting, painting on tin, sewing, quilting, knitting and gardening. She was an accomplished golfer, scoring a hole in one and winning championships at the Winding Brook Country Club. She liked the reliability of numbers and played a good hand of bridge, did the family taxes, and was an excellent bookkeeper, volunteering to help with church records whenever her skills were needed. She enjoyed travel, and thanks to Art’s pharmaceutical conferences, they had opportunities to visit Europe, South America and Canada.

Charmed by the character of Cape Cod while on family vacations, the couple bought land in Dennis, MA, and built their retirement home in the late 1970s. They joined the Dennis Union Church and were active participants in its many programs. It was on the Cape that Marjorie found like-minded sisters in the philanthropic organization, P.E.O., serving as Treasurer for her local chapter. She also became an avid collector of hostas at this time, and gave scores of plants away to fellow gardeners as she developed the flower beds around her new house. Within walking distance of Corporation Beach, the home Marjorie created on the Cape was a favorite spot for her grandkids to visit and explore.

In later years, after a 40-year struggle with Type 1 diabetes, Art lost his sight and Marjorie became his sole caregiver and nurse, managing his insulin doses, serving meals at set intervals and taking care of all household responsibilities. She continued to care for him singlehandedly when he lost a leg, even as she approached her 90th year. After Art died, she moved to Heatherwood, an independent living community in Yarmouthport, MA. Here, she lived happily until her own sight started to fail and she ultimately became blind, unable to care for herself as she had cared for others. At the age of 95, she made her final move to the Annapolitan Assisted Living Facility, in Annapolis, MD.

Marjorie is survived by her sister, Mary Jane Needler of Marion, IN; her two daughters, Barbara Yankus (Glenn) of Waldwick, NJ, and Catherine Umphrey (Stewart) of Annapolis, MD; by three grandchildren (Todd, Amy and Heather) and five great grandchildren (Leila, Dylan, Tyler, Ella and Ethan).

Funeral arrangements are private. When conditions permit, a service will be held in Dennis, MA to celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the P.E.O. Foundation, 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312, or the Perkins School for the Blind ([email protected].)