Marguerite Lora (Gill) Blumhagen Garcia

Wenatchee, WA

Marguerite passed away peacefully, May 3, 2011, surrounded by loving family. Marguerite was born June 14, 1920, to J. Dwight and Ruth (Cain) Gill in Wenatchee, along with her fraternal twin, Marjorie Mae (Gill) Dixon. They joined big brothers Dwight “Buddy” and Harvey “Jimmy” — both of whom thought Mom had brought them “each” a little sister. Marguerite grew up in Wenatchee and graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1938. She received her Teaching degree from Eastern Washington State College. Her first teaching position was in Newport, WA; after her first year there and missing her family, she found a teaching position in Chelan. On the weekends she would head out of her apartment, which is now known as Campbell’s Resort, and ride her bike, a one speed, mind you, to the cabin. The cabin is almost at 25 Mile Creek or 22 miles. There, she would spend the weekend with family and friends, working on the cabin. She married her high school and college sweetheart, Albert “Dale” Blumhagen, on May 24, 1944, while Dale was on leave from the Army. Mom continued to teach in Chelan until 1945. That summer, she enrolled in Nursing School, to help serve during the War. When Dale was released from the Army, he enrolled in Whitworth, to obtain his Teaching degree. While attending Whitworth, their first child, Becky, was born. Upon graduation, they heard a man speak about the Sudan Interior Mission and the great need for Secondary School Teachers in Africa. Dale and Marguerite were called to be Missionary Teachers and together, in the Fall of 1947, they traveled to Moody Bible Institute for training to become missionaries. They left for Nigeria on June 12, 1949, crossing the Atlantic on a month long voyage via a freighter, only to be followed with a long, two day train trip. During their first year there, they had a second child on November 24, 1950, Philip. Together, they served the SIM for seven years. In 1958, they returned from the mission field with a family of six, because of Dale’s failing health, due to Huntington’s. Dale passed away in 1969. Marguerite began teaching Elementary School at Lewis and Clark in 1959, and became the Art Teacher at Pioneer Junior High in 1961, retiring in 1980. On February 26, 1982, she married, Les Garcia. Together, they enjoyed many happy years, traveling from one end of the U.S. to the other and had an unforgettable trip to Spain. Mom’s green thumb is evident at 229 North Garfield, the most beautiful yard in the neighborhood. She and Les enjoyed visiting every art gallery and museum they could find and loved to comb the beaches for shells and unusual pods and seeds for their various artwork undertakings. Mom didn’t watch TV and would prefer to do her needle weavings and read or go weed the garden. She was an excellent cook and could whip up a fantastic meal on a moment’s notice and always had a pot of tea and cookies ready, anytime.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Dale; twin, Marjorie; brother, Dwight “Bud” Gill; sons, Patrick and William; and step-granddaughter, Debbie Mosset. She is survived by her loving husband, Leslie Garcia; brother, Harvey James Gill; daughter, Becky (Jack) Baker; son, Philip (Kathy Wolf) Blumhagen; grandchildren, Aaron (Kami) Baker, Kaprina (Dallas) Jones and Nacole (Brandon) Watts; great-grandchildren, Eden, Naomi and Natali Baker, Shaylee and Alexis Jones and Reiken and Alelia Watts; step- children, Kergie (Michael) Hamersley and Ron (Becky) Garcia; step-grandchildren, Justin (Zorana) Smith, Jeff (Gisela) Smith, Matthew (Sara) Garcia, Leslie Ann (Blake) Carlsen, Aaron (Jennie) Garcia and Bethani (Marcus) Jones; and step-great-grandchildren, Cassidy and Ashley Mosset, Xander and Darien Smith, Lola and Maksim Smith, Benjamin, Jonathan and Samuel Garcia, Emma, Gracie and Greta Carlsen, Cody and Nathan Garcia and Terryn and Kyleen Jones.

The family would like to thank Becky Calkins and her staff at Beacon Hill for their dedicated service and care of our Mother.

A Celebration of Life will be at a later date. Donations in Marguerite’s honor can be made to: Huntington’s Disease Society of America at www.hdsa.org/donations.html; Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at www.alzfdn.org/telrthon/donate.html; Habitat for Humanity – Your Local Chapter; or Sudan Interior Mission at www.sim.org. You are invited to visit her online photographic memories and leave a message at www.HeritageMemorialChapel.com. Arrangements by Heritage Memorial Chapel, East Wenatchee.