Marjorie Ethel Swanzy

11/26/1920 – 3/6/2011

Wife, mother, friend and retired teacher Marjorie Ethel Swanzy completed her life journey at the age of 90 on Sunday, March 6, 2011. Possessing a sweet and charming personality, Marge was deeply loved by her family and made many friends along the way.

Marge was born as the fifth and last child to Sarden Clifford and Augustine Olivia George in Biloxi, MS, on November 26, 1920. After the death of his mother Eunice Ramsey George, Sarden had raised his four younger siblings. A fifth generation Mississippian, Marjorie grew up in Biloxi in a close community of neighbours, relatives and friends. The family was proud that a great, great grandmother was an Indian princess and also traced roots to Scotland’s Robert the Bruce. Her eldest sister Hazel (Hade), who was 12 years older, helped raise Marge. When Hade married Jack Madison, he also took Marge under his wing.

A top student her whole life, Marge graduated as the Valedictorian of Biloxi High School. Friends and neighbours in childhood, Marge and Willard Manning Swanzy, Sr. (Will) became sweethearts in high school. On a full scholarship, Marge matriculated at Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus, MS. Although Will went to school at Mississippi State College in neighbouring Starkville, he left to enter the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Once Will finished his training as a pilot, Marge flew to San Francisco, CA, in June, 1942, and married Will in a Stockton AFB chapel that was under construction. The minister asked the construction crew to stop during the ceremony. Will had returned from a mission only 10 minutes earlier. Afterward, Marge returned to Biloxi. Shortly thereafter, Will went to war.

Mom lived with her family in the family homestead and gave birth April 3, 1943, to their first child Willard Manning Swanzy, Jr. It would be seventeen months before Will saw Bill, Jr. On a mission in over Egypt, Will’s plane caught fire and he parachuted out. Unfortunately, the plane exploded when he was in the air and shrapnel lodged in his back. A passing caravan made a carrier for him and delivered him to the Alexandria Hospital two days later. Will returned to the U.S. to recover from his injury, which had not severed his spinal cord, and eventually returned to the war and participated in the VE landing of troops in Italy.

Once Will returned home, he left the military and completed a double B.S. in Business Management and Aeronautical Engineering at Mississippi State College. On August 7, 1946, their second child Michelle George was born. After starting and running a diaper delivery business, Will returned to the Air Force. The family moved to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, where their third child Joseph Eldon was born in Bozier City on January 24, 1949.

Later in 1949, Will was transferred to Kinley Air Force Base, Bermuda, where the family took up an idyllic residence on Hungry Bay in Paget East. In 1953, Will transferred to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Marge moved to Biloxi for three months while Will made living arrangements for the family in Arlington. Jeremy David was born on October 27, 1953, in the middle of a snowstorm. In 1955, Will left the Air Force to work at Chance Vought Aircraft in Dallas, Texas. The family lived in nearby Grand Prairie until 1957. Once Jerry was old enough, Marge returned to school to earn a B.S. in Education from North Texas State College, Denton, Texas, on June 1, 1956. Marge started her teaching career in the 1956 – 1957 school year in Grand Prairie.

In 1957, a family vacation in Colorado inspired Will to apply for work at Martin Marietta Corporation. The family moved to the Denver area, spending most of the time in Lakewood, where their fifth child Jon Dyne was born December 8, 1958. Marge went on to teach in the Jefferson County School System in Colorado from 1960 to 1967.

Will began working at Boeing in Renton, WA, in 1967, and brought the family up from Colorado. In 1969, Will became the Deputy Director for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Olympia, WA. Marge began teaching at Washington Middle School in 1970. Her subjects included English, Language Arts and Social Studies. She earned many graduate teaching credits at the University of Washington between 1968 and 1972 with special emphasis on Native American History for which she had a passion. After a teaching career spanning eighteen years, Marge retired from Washington Middle School, Olympia, WA, in June, 1982.

Upon retiring, Will and Marge traveled nationwide. They eventually moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In 1986, Will died of a heart attack. Afterward, Mom traveled to Australia and New Zealand, cruised around the Mediterranean, and toured Switzerland and Paris among other places. Eventually, Marge moved to Panorama City Retirement Community in Lacey, Washington, where she lived until her death.

The family has propagated and fluctuated. Marge is survived by thirteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Bill, Jr., married Glenda Eileen Wonders and they have two children: Garrett Mathew and Megan Elizabeth. Megan has two children: Vivien Grace and Theodore Laszlo Liam Goldman. Garrett has had a son Maceo Glenn. Bill, Jr., died of Lymphoma in May of 2005.

Michelle married (Arthur) George Foyt and they have children Claire Anne Foyt Davon and John Arthur. John has a daughter Kathryn Rose. Joe married Susan Randi Kausahagen and they have three children: Peter Christian, Kristen Justine, and Matthew Nathaniel. Peter has a daughter Ruby Isabella. Jon married Carla Ann Deane and they have six children: Stephen Willard, Thomas Charles, Sophie Rachel, Bryan DeWitt, Laura Dyne and Makena Juanita. Stephen has children Lily Renee and Olivia Jean. Jon died in 2009 of Esophageal Cancer.

Marjorie was a loving, gracious, good humoured person who will be missed by family and friends. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 26, 2011, at 2 pm in the chapel at Mills and Mills Funeral Home, 5725 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater, WA 98512 (360-357-7743). Donations may be sent in Marge Swanzy’s name to:

Parkinsons Disease Foundation

1359 Broadway, Suite 1509

New York, NY 10018

Phone: (212) 923-4700

Fax: (212) 923-4778

www.pdf.org