Margaret B. Dooley
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Margaret B. ("Marge" or
"Margie") Dooley, 95, died peacefully on Oct. 26, 2009, at her
residence for 21 years, Friendship Village in Kalamazoo. A chain-smoker most of
her life, she defied the odds. As she and her sisters were prone to joke:
"Who would have thunk it?"
Marge was born on Sept. 16, 1914, in Newton and was the
daughter of John and Clara (Lambert) Dooley. She moved from Newton to East
Lansing, Mich., as a young woman; to Battle Creek, Mich., in 1948; and to
Friendship Village in 1999.
Marge received her bachelor's degree from Kansas State
Teachers College in 1939 and taught in Miller and Junction City. She taught
music at East Lansing for nine years and then for 26 years in the Battle Creek
Public School System.
Marge retired in 1974 as the elementary music consultant for
the Battle Creek Public School System after 26 years of faithful service. She
was a member of numerous professional and music associations throughout her illustrious
career.
Marge was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Battle
Creek and later St. Luke's Episcopal Church of Kalamazoo.
Found pasted into the front of her 1928 Book of Common
Prayer was the scripture Psalm 34:1-10, which may speak to her resilience.
She is survived by her sister, Jean Dooley Peterson; two
nieces and nephews, Jon Peterson, Ann Peterson Hyde, Bill Jones and Marge Jones
Hohenberger; and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews, a family that
remembers her both as an extraordinarily kind and giving loved one, as well as
an exceptionally gifted pianist and devoted teacher of music.
Family members recall her regular letter writing so full of
loving kindness and how she was always there for them no matter how far away.
Well into her 80's, she was able to sit down at a piano and
lead any size group in singing, playing without sheet music any tune she had
ever heard, in any key. For decades, her ethnically diverse Battle Creek
children's choirs were known for their inspired performances. Frequently, years
after her retirement, adults would approach her on the street and tell her that
they had been in one of her citywide choirs and tell her what a special
experience it had been.
She loved telling stories of her students, speaking of them
with such love and often with infectious laughter that it seemed she was
talking about her own children. Indeed, the thousands of young lives she
touched through the years must have felt in her heart to be her own.
At the request of her family, the memorial service to
celebrate Marge's life will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Kiva at Friendship
Village, 4100 N. Drake Road, Kalamazoo, MI, 49906. The officiate will be The
Rev. Beth McLaren, associate rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. There will
be no visitation.
Final interment will be next to her parents in Elbing
Cemetery, 12 miles east of Newton.
Memorial contributions in Marge's honor may be made to the
Friendship Village Friends Fund, in care of Friendship Village, at the above
address.
Farley-Estes & Dowdle Funeral Home of Battle Creek is in
charge of all the arrangements. Personal messages for the family may be sent at
www.farleyestesdowdle.com.
