Marjorie Louise Carspecken was a Midwestern girl. She was born on a cold January Friday the 13th in 1928. She was the eldest of three sisters known around Burlington, Iowa simply as the “Carspecken girls”. She had an early passion for drama and music and organized her own neighborhood acting troupe. This passion developed into a promising talent which led her to the University of Iowa’s Drama Department to study under the renowned EC Mabie.
In 1946 all acting plans were set aside when, on February 8, she eloped to Hiawatha, Kansas to marry her high school sweetheart, Robert Campbell Jeffrey. They began their married life in Iowa City, Iowa while Robert finished school at the University of Iowa. His career took them to Mount Vernon, Iowa, Charlottesville, Virginia, Bloomington, Indiana and finally to Austin, Texas in 1968. They raised a family of five children.
Robert passed away in April of 2000. Marjorie loved him until the hour of her death and beyond…
.Marjorie loved to travel. Her very special places included Natchez, Mississippi, Estes Park, Colorado, home places in Iowa and always Virginia. She loved the rolling mountains and quiet valleys of the Blue Ridge and could spend hours walking on Monticello Mountain in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson. She loved good mysteries, biographies and especially cherished the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Marjorie appreciated good theatre and enjoyed going to an occasional concert, and always encouraged artistic pleasures of her children and grandchildren. But above all, Marjorie loved her family. She was a steadfast and devoted mother who loved her children and grandchildren fiercely and unconditionally.
Marjorie is survived by her children, Robert Campbell Jeffrey Jr (Christina), Paula Louise Jeffrey (Tom), Douglas Allen Jeffrey, Nora Leigh Jeffrey and Margaret “Megan” Rae Dowell (Richard); her beloved grandchildren, Ashleigh and Andrew Harrison, Jacob Harrison (Hilde), Dylan Jeffrey, Marjorie Jeffrey, and Cameron, Caileigh and McKenna Dowell; her great grandchildren, Tony and Benito Jeffrey and Finn and Bronte Harrison; her brothers-in-law Edgar and Dick Jeffrey (Diane) and sister-in-law Lucille Pollard; cherished nieces and nephews, Laurie, Sue, Tim, David, Marla, John, Jill, Ginger and Jeff. She is predeceased by her parents, Paul and Louise Carspecken, her husband, Robert Jeffrey and her sisters, Jeanne Jeffrey and Mimi Denz.
Mass will be held on Monday, April 7, 2014 at 1:30 in the afternoon at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church at 4311 Small Drive in Austin. Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.
The family wishes to thank the staff at A MED Hospice, especially Pat, Connie, April and Rose, the nursing staff of the third and fourth floors of Seton Northwest, Dr. Michael Williams, Peoples Pharmacy at Lakeline, Walgreens Pharmacy at Metric and Braker, the employees at Olive Garden on Burnet Road and at the Starbucks at Rockwood and Anderson, and her neighbor and friend, Lucy Alff.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Des Moines County Historical Society located at 501 North 4th St, Burlington, Iowa 52601
All burdens lifted, all darkness, light…
Only love remains
“Now voyager, come home, come home to rest.
Lay down your fiery burden and be blest, be blest…”
the direction of Cook-Walden Funeral Home, Austin, Texas.
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