Marjorie Anne Hammond

Marjorie Anne Hammond, 92 was born in 1932 in Quincy, Massachusetts. She grew up in Plymouth, New Hampshire with her mother and father, Alice and Loys Wiles, her sister, Ruth and her brother, Robert. She graduated in 1950 as Valedictorian of her High School. Marge proceeded to continue her education in Boston at Simmons School of Nursing and Radcliffe College MA General Hospital School of Nursing. On a blind date, she met Gerard Hammond, married him, and had two daughters who she was very proud of. The family took up residency in New York. Marge was a seamstress for her family’s clothing, made books for blind children, a Brownie and Girl Scout leader, and someone ready to sign up for a self-help class to expand her realm. She was a stay at home mom until her girls were old enough to enable her return to school at Rockland Community College, graduating with 4.0 GPA with an AAS Degree and received a BA Degree in Mathematics from St. Thomas Aquinas College.

She worked as a Registered Nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern until she moved to Spokane, Washington where she was employed by Sacred Heart Medical Center as an Intensive Care Unit-Coronary Care Unit nurse for over 20 years. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, it was a different time. ICU served as a recovery room for post-op patients. The night shift nurses did all the in-house patient dialysis, all immediate post-op open heart care, running intra-aortic balloon pumps, critical burn care, etcetera. Marge was a well-respected, thorough, and thoughtful practitioner of all these subspecialties, and was frequently night shift charge. She was a no nonsense and strong patient advocate. She moved to Outpatient Procedures until she retired in 1997.

More than that, she was a delightful friend. Marge began a celebration of Chinese New Year at her home, where everyone brought homemade Chinese food. She also instigated a belly dancing troupe amongst her colleagues, a radical departure from the high stress work. She helped participants make their own outfits, bought music for practice, and scheduled outings to Niko’s Greek Restaurant to watch professionals. The group only performed once but it was memorable.

In 1989, after a doll workshop featuring a pattern designer, Elinor Peace Bailey, at a local quilt shop that many doll makers attended along with Marge, Ms. Bailey suggested they form a doll club to share talents and ideas. Thus, the Spokane Cloth Doll Club was born. Marge was very active, sharing her creative ideas that were born from her whimsical sense of humor. Her talents would bring smiles and laughs. From life size dolls sitting with her in the living room to a three-foot-long dragon that lived on the fire place to very small pocket dolls she shared with the children at Venessa Behan Crisis Nursery. She and her dolls inspired all to new levels of creative expression and interpretation. She was an avid crafter with great creative instincts, a doll maker, a tatter, a Brazilian embroiderer, a watercolorist, a quilter, a baker, a gardener, and anything else that would quench her endless curiosity for projects and life.

The Waterlily group, a swimming lunch bunch started 35 years ago in the pool of the YWCA. They had to move to several places. It is now a coffee group. Janet, a friend while talking on the phone with her two days before she passed away said, “I better let you go before I wear you out”. Marjorie replied showing her wonderful sense of humor, “Too late!!!”

Marjorie Hammond was a cherished soul who cannot be replaced. She was a fabulous mother, a precious aunt, a great friend, a dedicated nurse, and a valuable member of any group she started or joined. To know her was to love her and you were connected deeply forever. All her supporters valued her for her frank truthfulness. During her life, she really made a difference to many which was reinforced by all the visitors who told their stories of how she influenced them and changed their lives for the better. Marge is survived by her two daughters, her nieces and nephews, and many friends. She was not afraid to die and passed away peacefully early in the morning on April 30, 2025.