Marjorie Matthews

Marjorie Matthews, 95, of Dallas, Texas passed away Tuesday, August 13, 2013 in Austin, Texas. A child of the depression, and the second of three sisters, Marjorie Matthews was born October 9, 1917 near Fairland, OK to parents Walter and Lena Fleming. Though she lived long, she never lost her lust for life. She traveled whenever she could, especially in Latin America. She had a great appreciation for music and the written word, and was a dedicated hobbyist in both. She was a supportive and devoted wife and an open-hearted and charitable member of her community. And as a loving mother to five children, she was a model of tenacity, openness, charity, kindness, and adventurousness.

At age five Marjorie was confined to bedrest for over a year with tuberculosis. During this recuperative time, she developed an unshakable reading habit that would remain with her. Even after developing macular degeneration in her eighties, she just got herself a magnifying glass and kept at it.

This love of reading led to a broader love of education, and in 1932 at fifteen she graduated valedictorian of her high school in Tulsa. She then attended college at Oklahoma A&M, now OSU, in Stillwater for three years.

Her commitment to education would continue to find expression throughout her life. She and her late husband Harry founded World Tapes for Education, a community dedicated to world peace, which counted over 20,000 members at its peak. Marjorie also assisted her children and grandchildren in their pursuits of higher education, tutored ESL at the local elementary school, and taught Sunday school during her later years at Grace Methodist in Dallas.

Marjorie loved her independence. In 1971 at age 54, she and a friend took a train to Mexico City and its nearby pyramids, at a time when traveling without a man was unusual for women. After her husband passed in 1981, she continued to live in and maintain their home, living mostly alone until just a few years ago.

Marjorie, having grown up in the Great Depression, developed generous spirit. Whenever guests came to her home, she welcomed them, offered up her beds, and filled their bellies with homemade beans and cornbread. She was ultimately a practical woman and on her kitchen wall hung a pot holder that read: “Kissin’ don’t last but cookin’ do.”

Marjorie is and will be missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her five children and seven grandchildren. Her children are son and daughter-in-law James and Phyllis Matthews of Oak Grove, TX; son and daughter-in-law Joe and Audrey Matthews of San Jose, CA; daughter Patricia Williams; daughter and son-in-law Anna and Don Hudson of Austin, TX; and son and daughter-in-law Walter and Frankie Ruth Matthews of Carthage, TX. Her grandchildren are Chris Matthews, Kirt Williams, Cassandra Sears-Chandler, Matt Hudson, Brian Hudson, Justin Cook, and Jonathan Cook.

Viewing: Sunday, August 18 from 4-6pm at Sparkman-Crane (10501 Garland Rd.). Funeral services: Monday, August 19 at 10am and interment to follow at Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.

"The family would appreciate any charitable donations to be sent to Doctors Without Borders where Marjorie was a monthly field Partner supporter" - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/?