Obituaries

Marjorie B. Good, 100

July 13, 1917 - September 18, 2017

Marjorie B. Good — July 13, 1917 – September 18, 2017

The long life of a remarkable woman began in her grandparents large brick farmhouse outside of Edgar, Wisconsin. It was Friday, the 13th of July, 1917. She was the third child of Arnold Baeseman and Else Umnus Baeseman, and the first to survive. Both of her Umnus and Baeseman Prussian grandparents (and their children) traveled the dirt logging roads as pioneers into the north woods of Wisconsin in ox-drawn wagons. The close-knit families brought their German traditions with them, started Lutheran churches, tilled the land, and built mills and communities. In 1919, her father established a hardware and farm implement business in Edgar. This was the world of Marjorie’s childhood with stories of sleighs, catching rides on broad cutter runners back and forth through town on snow-packed roads, yodeling chimney sweeps, drinking milk fresh from the cow, and family picnics on long tables under woodland canopies.

At age 16, Marjorie left home for teacher’s college in Whitewater Wisconsin, where she made life-long friendships, and was president of her sorority. She missed her parents, her little sisters Elaine and Gayle, and her baby brother, Arden. When she graduated, she taught high school business classes, and was only a year older than some of her students! Marjorie met David Good at an army dance at Camp McCoy, and before he was deployed to fight in WWII, he gave her a ring. She moved to Strasburg, Pennsylvania, to live with his Mennonite family, because she felt she needed to know his people before marrying. Margie especially loved David’s mother, Maud Myers Good.

When the war was over, they eloped immediately, and were married in a small chapel in Philadelphia on September 8th, 1945. After the ceremony, the band at a party across the street was playing Happy Days Are Here Again. They were married for 58 happy years.

Marge worked as a secretary while her new husband went through the school of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin Madison. During his internship, the couple had two sons, David and Tom, two years apart. They then bought a drugstore (Good Drugs, later Berlin Pharmacy) and a house in Berlin, Wisconsin. Their daughter, Julie, was born. The family kept close contact with Marge’s family in northern Wisconsin.

David and Marjorie were blissfully happy in Berlin for the next fifty years, living what a friend described as “the Good life.” Their home was welcoming, and Marge devoted herself to her family. A sense of adventure and exploration was one of her life-long traits. She imparted this excitement for life to her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Marjorie and David loved their large gardens, and grew well over 100 kinds of herbs. She was widely known as “the herb lady,” and was featured in local and statewide news media. She gave talks to groups on edible weeds and herb crafts, natural fibers and dyestuffs, enjoyed garden and book clubs, and was active in her church. Her hobbies were legion, from archery to ceramics, calligraphy, weaving, spinning, playing the piano, flower pressing, antiquing, cooking (!), traveling, birdwatching, decorative painting, and so much more. Marge helped purchase gifts that were sold in the drugstore, and always decorated the large front windows. She was the Queen Of Hyperbole, and everything was the best ever; the best parsley-buttered potatoes, the most fun she ever had, the best fennel bread she ever made, the most glorious dahlia she ever saw. She loved everything, and was grateful for everything.

Marjorie was inspirational to, and beloved by so many. Her 100th birthday party was celebrated in July of 2017. Family flew and drove to Pennsylvania from around the country. Of course, our sweet Margie said it was the best day of her life.

Marjorie is survived by her son, David C. Good and his wife Trish Good, her daughter, Julie Good-Kruger, her nine grand-children and eleven great-grandchildren, her brother, Arden Baeseman, nieces and nephews, and many others who hold her dear. She was preceded in death by her husband, David M. Good, her son, Thomas R. Good, her son-in-law Timothy A. Kruger, her parents Arnold and Else Baeseman, three brothers Arnold, Elmer and Gordon Baeseman, and two sisters, Elaine Hertz and Gayle Flowers. We can’t imagine this world without her, but she will be within us always.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, October 22nd, at 1:00PM at The Luther Care Chapel in the Manor Residence, 400 Saint Luke Drive, Lititz, PA. A second celebration of Marjorie’s life will be held in the summer of 2018, in her hometown of Edgar, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Brown Wilcox Home, 347 E. Huron St., Berlin, WI 54923.

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Condolences to the Family

October 18, 2017

What a Renaissance woman- and her amazing daughter, Julie, is carrying on the traditions of art and home keeping that were part of her earliest memories.  There is no way to calculate how many lives Marge and her family have touched and made better.  Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Good family (so aptly named!) on this earth.
 
Anne Wright

Services
Sunday, October 22, 2017
1:00 PM
The Luther Care Chapel in the Manor Residence
400 Saint Luke Drive
Lititz, PA
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