Marguerite Syverson Obituary

Marguerite was born on a 160-acre farm in Iowa in 1916 to Adolph Zach and Elizabeth Schneider Zach. The farm bordered the Nishnabotna River, which eventually flows into the Mississippi. When it flooded, a brother would go out in the field to catch catfish with a pitchfork. Corn, wheat, oats and alfalfa were raised in rotation, mules were used to pull the equipment, and pigs and cattle were raised. The youngest of 9 children, her mother always referred to her as "my baby".

As a young girl, Marguerite attended a one-room schoolhouse, rode their ponies Teddy and Sparkle, was active in the 4-H Club, dreamed of being the best typist in the county, played the alto saxophone (including in a high school dance band, Speck and His Spots), sang at school and church, and loved going to dances. When she was just 6, she won a dollar for her rendition of the Charleston!

At age 16, Marguerite shared driving with family friends to come to Yakima, where she helped her sister Isabel and her family and eventually attended Yakima Business College. Her first job after graduation was with an out-of-state hops dealer who loaned money to growers, mostly of French origin, to enable them to plant and grow their crops. Later, she enrolled at the University of Puget Sound (1938-39) where she majored in music and sang with the Chorus.

From 1940-43, Marguerite worked as a secretary for the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Publications Office. During this time, she and her roommates were invited to a party where she met Ralph 'Sy' Syverson and they began to meet to talk and take long walks together. Love blossomed! When Sy joined the Army Signal Corps as a cryptographer and was stationed in Seward, AK, Marguerite found a position working for a construction company there from October 1943-June 1944. She was then relocated by the company to Seattle, Sy took a leave of 2 weeks to join her, and they were married at the University Methodist Temple on June 18, 1944.

Children soon followed-Marcia, Rich, then Carol-and Marguerite devoted herself to family. They purchased their first home near Northgate, later moved to Broadview, and eventually to Shoreline. Marguerite studied voice, sang for many years with the Broadview PTA Mother Singers, and was a member of the Fine Arts Study Club in Seattle. She and Sy also sang together in the choirs in their church homes, Bethel Presbyterian and Calvin Presbyterian, where they were very active in many church activities and made life-long friends.

When the kids were older, Marguerite returned to work, eventually working for 16 years at the UW and retiring as Administrative Secretary to Dr. Baskerville, then Chair of the Speech and Hearing Department.

After she and Sy retired, they traveled together to Western Europe, Greece and Turkey, Hawaii, and throughout the West and Midwest in their RV visiting family and friends. In 2002, they sold their home in Shoreline and moved into an apartment at Cristwood.

In 2002, granddaughter Courtney interviewed Marguerite for a school project. She asked her, "Grandma, can you think of any tough times you had or your family went through?" Grandma replied: " I can't think of anything or anytime that would fall into that category. We have so much more than many other people have-we have family, we're healthy, proud of our children and grandchildren, good friends, special friends. We always had food to eat and clothes to wear. We've had each other and family is really the most important thing I can think of!"