Obituaries from Linda Kestner:lfkestner3@msn.com

 

Marjorie Ona Harris Rawlinson, just three weeks from her 90th birthday, died peacefully at home in Sun City, CA, on­­­ March 21, 2006.  The daughter of Oren Foster and Ferne (Vickery) Harris, Marjorie was born on April 11, 1916 in New Market, Taylor County, Iowa.  She was six years old in 1922 when her adventurous parents left their Iowa farm, seeking their fortune in California, “between the sandy beaches of the Pacific Ocean and the magnificent snow-capped mountains”, as magazine ads of the day had promised.  Her parents became citrus ranchers and both she and her Mother worked for many years at the Rialto Citrus Association and the Rialto Orange Company.  Marjorie graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1932 and Longmire Business College in 1933.     

Marjorie was married to Thomas Albert Rawlinson, the “boy next door”, on September 02, 1938 in Los Angeles.  They farmed ten acres in Rialto for many years and Marjorie worked sixteen years for the American National Bank at Baseline and E Streets, San Bernardino. She was Recorder for Eisenhower High School in Rialto for thirteen years and she and Tom were bookkeeper and plant manager for San Bernardino Valley Egg Producers until their retirement in 1982 when they moved to Sun City, CA. 

In 1988, Tom and Marjorie celebrated fifty years of marriage, as had their parents before them.  Tom died February 12, 1992. Marjorie had a sympathetic and generous heart, always encouraging others with her positive view of life.  She was brave and uncomplaining as she always worked very hard, believing in “doing everything she had to do, better than she had to do it”, her favorite motto. 

She was a great reader of non-fiction, loved to travel and have new experiences and enjoyed keen powers of observation all her life.  She collected coins for fifty years and loved leaving tips, first in Ike dollars and then in golden Sacagawea dollars everywhere she went. She was indeed the best Mother in the world and was loved beyond measure. 

Marjorie leaves her daughter, Linda Kestner of Sun City, grandsons David Allen (Diane Marie Chapple) Kestner of Ridgefield, WA and Eric Thomas (Stefanie Kristin Jensen) Kestner, of Seattle, WA, great-grandchildren: Shannon Kestner and Allison Kestner of Ridgefield, WA and Riley Glenn Kestner and Isabella Ursuline Kestner, of Seattle, WA; brother and sister-in-law, Jack Vickery Harris and Maria Teresa Magisano Harris of Los Altos, CA, niece Diane Harris of Los Altos and niece Sandra Kay (Richard) Fitch of Fremont, CA. 

Marjorie was predeceased by her husband, Thomas Albert Rawlinson, in 1992, her son, Lee Thomas Rawlinson, in 1988, her son-in-law, Glenn Harold Kestner in 1993, her niece, Julie Anne Harris in 2002, and her parents, Oren and Ferne Harris in 1968 and 1987.

Marjorie loved the ocean waves and sunshine of California.  She enjoyed every day of her retirement and always said she had never had a headache or felt a moment’s boredom.  Those who loved her so much will be forever grateful for the extra years of life Marjorie enjoyed because of Dr. Weng-Lih Wang and the staff of DaVita Dialyis Center in Temecula, CA.   A very special Thank You to everyone at DaVita for their professional care and kindness to Marjorie.  She always said they were “perfection”, her expression of highest praise!  A second heartfelt Thank You to the extraordinary nurses and home health aides of Hospice of the Valleys whose skills and compassion allowed Marjorie a dignified and natural death at home. 

Marjorie’s wish was that no service be held and that her cremains be interred next to her parents, husband and son in the Valley View Mausoleum, Loma Linda, CA.

The Press Enterprise, Riverside, CA, March 24, 2006

 

Lame, Kay Louise Collins - Kay Louise (Collins) Lame, 75, passed peacefully Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at home in Des Moines, surrounded by family. She was born October 7, 1940 in Bedford, Iowa to Russell E. and Edna P. (Harland) Collins. 

As a young wife, Kay was a full-time mother and homemaker. She was devoted to her family and spent her time caring for them, sewing their clothes, gardening and canning. When the youngest entered school, Kay worked for Affinity Credit Union, retiring in 1999. Family was everything to her and she was very involved with her grandchildren, from sports to teaching them how to cook. She will be forever loved by her family and greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

She is survived by her daughters, Kay Burkett, Kathy Thompson, Mary (Vincent) Sampson, Nancy Muetzel, and Linda (Daniel) Weber; step-son, Steven (Paulet) Lame; and Raymond Johnson whom she thought of as a son; 11 grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren; and her brother, Gary (Nancy) Collins.

Kay was preceded in death by her husband and best friend of 55 years, Walter E. Lame Jr.; her parents; brother, Robert Collins; and grandson, Dawson Weber.

Special thanks to Sue, her wonderful hospice nurse.

Funeral Services will be held 11 a.m., Monday, May 16, 2016, at Hamilton's Funeral Home, 605 Lyon Street in Des Moines. Friends may visit with family from 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday, at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family in loving memory of Kay.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com. Published in Des Moines Register on May 14, 2016