Marjorie Klein Cummins' Obituary
Marjorie Klein Cummins lived a beautiful life of 92 years. She was born on July 25th, 1929 to John James Klein & Leah Shenkenberger in Albany California during the beginning of lean times. Some people will remember that the stock market crashed in 1929 which caused a sharp decline in U.S. stock market values and contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mom was born into the height of the market failure and folks were doing well just to eat and take care of their families. Marjorie grew up tending the garden and taking care of the animals on the farm instead of playing with dolls and being a child. She did receive a doll for Christmas one year but it was confiscated by her younger sister. That memory hurt her but she had work to do on the farm while her father worked in town.
Marjorie worked hard in school and graduated high school in December of 1948. She knew that education was important for success and she continued in several other academic pursuits. She attended Champaign Commercial College from September 1951 to February 1952 for secretarial work. She also attended Art Instruction Inc. from 1947 to 1950 partially under the tutelage of Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts). Marjorie always loved art and music but those true loves did not allow her to pay the bills for herself and her family as she was also working and helping provide for her family in California.
As a result, she joined the Women’s Army Corps from 14 February 1950 to 31 August 1951 as a Clerk Typist and one of the first woman recruiters in the Army. During that time, she continued to send money to her mother and father to support them due to the limited resources they had available in a small town. Marjorie and Henry met in the Army which was one of his favorite funny stories. His buddy begged Henry to go on a blind date to the drive-in movies so that his date would go and feel safe. Henry and Marjorie met and sat in the back seat of a sedan and fell asleep on their first night together, one on one side of the car and one on the other side of the car. Marjorie hated hearing that they slept together on their first night together but it was just the beginning of 62 years of marriage together. They were married shortly after meeting on March 10th, 1951 at the 87th Regimental Chapel Ft. Riley Kansas just before Henry left for the Korean conflict. He didn’t know for sure if he was coming back but he knew she was the one he wanted to come back to. Henry returned home to his new bride around December 16th, 1953 after being wounded in the Korean war. They then began to share a wonderful love and life that everyone knew was something special.
Marjorie came to Texas in May of 1954 with Henry and she was baptized at age 25 at Westminster Presbyterian Church. She was very firmly family oriented and maintained a deeply religious belief systems throughout her life. The two of them worked together as Henry attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas from September 1954 to June 1959. During that time, she attended Dallas College for Shorthand and Fundamentals of Typing in 1957 and began working at local banks to support the family. In 1960 and 1962 her sons were born and she began the work of raising two sons that were challenging at times. She put her education on hold as a full-time mother until she decided to return to college after the kids were in high school. She attended Richland College 1973 to 1978 and achieved an Associate’s Degree in Arts and Sciences. She continued on and attended Texas Women’s University in Denton from 1978 to 1985 for Occupational Therapy and Psychology. She achieved high honors in the Alpha Chi Society, Psi Chi National Honors Society for Psychology, and Phi Kappa Phi National Honors Society via Texas Women’s University.
There are many stories worth sharing in her 92 years of life. Both her and Henry enjoyed square dancing, travel with the kids, a number of dogs and cats, and family visits. The trips to see family in both
California and Illinois were memorable. It was amazing to see the humble homes both parents enjoyed as children. Square dancing became one of the shared activities and Marjorie joined Hank in many trips and events with the Swing Saints Square Dance team. They won a variety of awards and were very well liked on the team. Both Henry and Marjorie served in the church for many years and were well liked there also. They both outlived nearly every original member of the church congregation that served as an anchor to their marriage.
Henry preceded her in death in 2020 after 69 years of marriage. It was heartbreaking to see how it impacted her and she had much more time to worry about her retirement. All of the family tried to help her work through all the worries of everyday life and words never really seemed to make a difference. The family visits made a big difference and picked up her spirits. She always talked about them and asked but the family constantly. It was all light and smiles once the kids or the dogs showed up. Our kids and dogs LOVED her and she definitely loved them. We loved to see her smile and eyes light up with delight when the kids would visit or the dogs would sit at her feet and lean in for a little love. Mom also loved her roses and we helped clean out her roses from weeds and dead limbs. She would never say much about the work because she was a quiet person but the results a few weeks later made her smile when hundreds of roses bloomed.
Mom maintained hundreds of meticulous notes and records. The family is still going through some of them. The most beautiful notes were to herself reminding her of the loftier goals. One was found that clearly showed she was a humble person and always attempting to strive for continual self-improvement, maintain her body in a healthy way, enjoy nature and literature, be even tempered and more forgiving than other people around her in line with her Christian values
What’s your fondest memory of Marjorie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Marjorie?
Share a story where Marjorie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Marjorie you’ll never forget.
How did Marjorie make you smile?
