My condolences to the Humphrey family.  I feel like I grew up with all of you.  Bob and I went through school together.  Margaret and my mother,  Dorothy Bayliss, were the very best of friends, having gone through nurses training together and worked together for many years.  I lost my mother in 2008 and often wondered about Margaret.  They were special ladies.

A few years ago on a sunny and cold winter day, two friends and I visited Margaret while Brenda and Richard enjoyed a much deserved, brief vacation. We brought lunch and planned to play cards afterwards.   During lunch we younger "girls" heard a funny sound, (even though Margaret didn't), and we soon discovered it was water, which was rushing into the basement thanks to a broken pipe.  Margaret knew exactly where the water shut-off was, luckily, because it was the last place we would have looked.  It caused a lot of damage, but it could have been much worse.  From then on, Margaret called us her guardian angels.  But now, she is ours.  I will miss her.

Effie, “Grandy” became part of our family when my brother Richard married her daughter Brenda, 52 years ago.    She has always been like a grandma to all the kids that were around.  When I started working at St. Mary-Corwin, Effie was working on the pediatric ward.  My oldest, then only 6 months old, was very sick and was admitted with a high fever and put in isolation.    I had only been working a few short weeks, so I had no time to take off.  Desperate to be with my baby and still keep my job, I was so worried.  Effie smiled that beautiful smile of hers and told me,” don’t worry we will take good care of him”. She held him and rocked him the times I couldn't be there.  Luckily it only lasted 24 hours and he broke out with the measles and immediately got better.  She helped me through that with her loving skill and that big beautiful smile of hers. 
I remember the time we were out raking rock landscaping in Richard’s yard.  We came in to find that she had prepared an entire fried chicken dinner (she was 80!). She said, “well I can’t rake rock, but I can make chicken, so I figured you kids would be hungry”.     We definitely were and it was great.   
She was spunky and always the life of the party.  What a card shark.   We enjoyed many times playing cards.  She could whip us all and she loved it.    We will miss her and that big beautiful smile.   She will hold a place in our hearts forever.

Betty 


In October 1973, a new graduate nurse walked onto the Pediatric unit at St. Mary Corwin so scared and unsure and really just wanting to go home.  There I met a most marvelous nurse, Margaret Humphrey, who became my mentor and teacher and mother at work.  I learned so many lessons from Margaret not  the least of which was to trust my gut feelings and how to be a compassionate and caring and how to stand up for what I knew was right for my patients.  Three days after I started Margaret took me by the hand into the treatment room and told me "You are going to start this IV".  The patient was less than 6 months old and I told her no way.  But she stood her ground and gently guided me through the process which was a success.  From then on we were a team.  She would say "I will find you a vein and you will start the IV".  Oh the fun times we had!  I still can hear her laugh and it makes me smile.  We were quite a team.  After she retired and found herself in St. Mary Corwin as a patient she would ask everyone who cared for her if I still worked there and they would find me.  I feel so very blessed to have started my 46 year career as a nurse under the guidance of a very loving, caring and skilled nurse such as Margaret.  God bless you Margaret.  It was pleasure to work with you.  My sympathies to all who loved and cared for Margaret, she was one of a kind and a gift to us all.

Brenda, 
You showed perfect love for you mother by bringing her into your home, and keeping her so well all those years. She raised you well, and you reciprocated.  Be proud. Feel loved. See you soon. 
-Ruth-

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Robert Humphrey

Brenda Sell

Betty Humphrey

Lisa Sigler

Chuck Montera

Suzette Montera Smith

Cindy Brandt

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Courtney Humphrey

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Cale Brandt

Kate Sigler

Dylan Brandt

Abby Smith

Tia Sigler

Colten Sell

Dominic Montera

Luca Montera

Rileigh Greer

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Imperial Memorial Gardens Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery

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Margaret Humphrey

August 27, 1919 – February 6, 2020

Imperial Memorial Gardens Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery

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