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Marjorie T. Guthrie |
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August 4, 1924 ~ June 22, 2015 |
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June 24, 2015 |
Marjorie T. Guthrie passed into Heaven Monday,
June 22, 2015. She was 90 years of age.
Born in Racine, Ohio August 4, 1924 to Paul E.
And Marie Wilcoxen Theiss, she was the second of
three children. Marjorie spent the majority of
her childhood living near the banks of the Ohio
River. She was a tremendous swimmer and actually
swam the river and back so often that her mother
took her swimming suit away, yet she still swam
the river nearly daily. That was her to a T. She
never met a task she felt unable to tackle.
Her father was a master machinist and when the
United States became involved in World War II,
the family moved to Pittsburgh, where he was
employed setting engines on LTS (Landing
Transport Ship) that were to be used on D-Day.
Marjorie graduated high school in 1942 and found
employment wherever she could. She had a
lifelong dream of becoming a nurse, but because
of poor scores in Latin she would have to place
nursing on hold. Mother worked pumping gas for a
while then went on to Good Year Aircraft Corp in
Akron, Ohio where she was employed as a
stenographer for 11 months.
It was there that she discovered a love for
flight. She earned her pilot's license, and
became proficient in a Piper Cub. Wanting to
join the war effort in a more hands-on way,
Marjorie altered her birth certificate in early
1944 in order to appear a year older. As a
woman, she could not enlist before the age of
21, and she was determined to put her aviation
skills to work. She dreamed of being the next
Amelia Earhart.
Marjorie was inducted into the United States
Army in July of 1944, and was assigned to the
Air Transport Command (ATC). She completed basic
training in Georgia, then went on to Link
Trainer School in Memphis, Tennessee for five
months. She was assigned to the ATC Service as a
Link Trainer (a link trainer was the early
version of a flight simulator) instructor,
teaching pilots to fly by instruments. In
addition, she pulled inspections on planes and
maintained "inter phone" communications with the
instructor in the fuselage.
Marjorie was deployed to serve in the Asiatic
Pacific Theater on June 20, 1945. Traveling the
CBI (China Burma India) route, she landed in
Karachi, then India June 24, 1945, where she was
stationed for a period of six months. She earned
the Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal, the American
Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the
World War II Victory Medal. (In a side note, she
discovered one of the pilots who flew the Link
Trainers overseas was actually one of her flight
instructors in Akron, and she was allowed to go
forward and take the controls for part of the
flight!).
It was in Karachi that she met a young, handsome
GI from Idaho, Larry Guthrie, fell in love, and
following the war, married September 1, 1946 in
the little Methodist Church in Bonners Ferry,
Idaho. They settled in Portland, Oregon where
their two sons, Steven and Charles, were born.
In late 1950, Marj and Larry moved back to
Boundary County, Idaho to work on the family
farm with Larry's parents. Using the GI Bill,
they trained with C. Don Kerby and subsequently
built a small Grade A dairy which they operated
during the 1950's into the early 1960's. Two
little girls, Susan and Mary, were added to the
family in the 1950's. Marjorie was a master at
whatever she did, whether it was farming, wiring
a building, building a home, or homemaking.
Marj was employed by the Department of
Agriculture at the ASCS ( Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation Service) in
Bonners Ferry for many years. When her position
was abolished due to budget cuts in the 1960's,
she began working as a Clerk of the District
Court. She completed her dream of becoming a
nurse in 1968 when she graduated from the
Licensed Practical Nurse Program offered at
Community Hospital in Bonners Ferry. She
practiced nursing for several years, but when
her position with the ASCS Office reopened in
the late 1970's, she returned there until her
retirement.
Marjorie was a strong spirit with a gentle hand.
She stood up for what she believed to be right
and fair even when faced with opposition. She
was a loving wife and mother, grandmother, great
grandmother, and great great grandmother. She
was proud of her children and their families and
found great joy in them. She was equally proud
of her military service and continued to her
last days to be supportive of all who serve. She
was a member of First Baptist Church in Bonners
Ferry, having been baptized in the Ohio River as
a child.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 56
years, Lawrence A. Guthrie, her parents, and
brother Roger Theiss.
Marjorie is survived by her sister, Pauline
Hill, her sons, Steve (Linda) and Charles (Deb)
and daughters Susan (Fred) Bennett and Mary
(Dan) Dinning as well as grandchildren Jeffrey
and Jason Guthrie, Christa Eby and Michael
Guthrie, Lisa DeHeer, Brian and Kevin Dinning
and Angela Segler; eight great grandchildren,
Jessie, Caleb, Danny, Jacobi, Mathew, Miranda.
Elizabeth and Sofie Grace and one great great
granddaughter, Payton.
Marjorie's family would like to express sincere
gratitude to the Auburn Crest Hospice team for
filling her final days with dignity, grace and
love for her as well as her family.
As per Marjorie's request, there will be no
service. Please remember her by helping someone
else. Her special charities are Shriner's
Hospital, The Wounded Warrior Fund, Disabled
Veterans, The Marine Corp Heritage Fund, and the
World War II Memorial. |
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