Funeral Mass: will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2003 at 10:00 a.m. at the St. Pius Catholic Church in Billings.
Rite of Committal: will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2003 at 3:00 at the Calvary Cemetery in Miles City, MT.
Marjorie Ann Schiltz Lemire McLean died peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, at the age of 89 early Tuesday morning, November 25, 2003, at the Valley Health Care Center in Billings. The daughter of Montana pioneers, her identity was defined and shaped by the history and landscape of the wide open spaces that she loved.
Marjorie was born in Kremlin, Montana, on April 26, 1914, the second of five children born to John B. Schiltz and Mary Elizabeth (MacHale) Schiltz. She graduated from Billings High School and then earned a degree in English and Physical Education from the College of Saint Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Marjorie was teaching those subjects at Custer County High School when she met and married an enterprising young Miles City attorney, Hugh J. Lemire, on August 14, 1939.
Together they reared a family of eight, six girls and two boys. She honed her motherly skills to the point that she could bake mountains of bread and feed a crowd every day, supervise homework and chores like a general, with ample energy left to teach her own and the neighborhood kids all sorts of fun stuff, like how to walk on stilts, turn cartwheels, play tennis, swim and dive, ice skate, or dance the Charleston (to name just a few of her myriad talents). There was also much role modeling in the basics of proper English language usage, spoken and written, the appreciation of literature, and the delight of games and puzzles, from solving crosswords to devouring good mysteries and playing charades.
Both Marjorie and Hugh demonstrated the importance of participating in civic life. They were active in the Democratic Party on the local, state, and national level. Marjorie served as Montanas National Committeewoman in the mid-fifties and Hugh served as Chair of the State Party in the early sixties.
After Hughs untimely death in August 1962 she remained active in her community, serving a term on the City Council. Her membership in AAUW and the Democratic Party were important to her, but her great pleasure was meeting weekly with her dear friends in theSewing Club.
In July 1966 she married Patrick M. McLean. They retired in Pine Mountain Lake, California, where together they spent many happy years enjoying friends, tennis, golf and gathering with their children and grandchildren. After Pat died in 1990, Marjorie returned to Billings, the place she always thought of as home.
Marjorie will be remembered by many locals as the scrappy 80-year-old lady who was named Athlete of the Year at the 1994 Big Sky State Games for her stellar competition on foot and in the water.
She is survived by her children: Jean and her husband Floyd Dahlman of Forsyth, Montana, their daughters Andrea and Sarah Lachkar,Sarah's husband Justin Osmer and their son Henry; Sarah and her husband James Eisberg of New York City and their children Andrew and Jeannie; Mimi (Mary) and her husband David Pasternak of Half Moon Bay, California, and their children Alex and Anna; Margery and her husband Terry Orell of Charlotte, North Carolina, theirdaughter Molly and her husband Michael Crehan, their son Michael, and daughter Katy; Joseph Hugh Lemire of Livingston, Montana; Katy (Katherine) and her husband Brad Pappalardo of Walnut Grove, California, and their children Joseph, Emily, and John; Paul Lemire and his wife Linda Bria of Billings, Montana, and their son Dante; Suzy (Suzanne) and her husband James Albano of Billings, and their children Rosalie and Dominic; and the McLean children: Barbara Ann and her husband Phil Block of Anchorage, Alaska; sons Michael McLean of Yakima, Washington and Patrick McLean and his wife Ann and their children Megan and Nicholas of Cle Elum, Washington.
She is survived by her brother, John M. Schiltz and his wife Eddi of Royal Oaks, Maryland; by her sister, Rita Sheehy, and her husband, John C. Sheehy of Helena, Montana, and by numerous, wonderful nieces and nephews and their families. In addition to her husband's and her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Mary Gleason Thomas, and her brother, Richard A. Schiltz.
The Vigil Service will be held in Billings at 7:30 on Friday evening, November 28, at the Church of St. Pius X. Funeral services will be at St Pius Catholic Church at 10:00 on Saturday morning, November 29. There will be a luncheon served at the Parish Hall after the mass. Committal Service will be at Cavalry Cemetery in Miles City at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon. Friends are invited to gather with the family afterwards at the Miles City Club. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Miles City is in charge of the arrangements.
Memorials to Marjorie may be sent to the childrens book collection at either the Miles City Public Library, 1 South 10th Street, Miles City, Montana 59301, or the Parmly Billings Library, 510 North Broadway, Billings, Montana 59101.
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