Love Story: He was the buzz of her life

Margery was born in 1927 on a 120-acre farm near the small town of Sidney, Iowa also known as "Rodeo Town USA". Most of the farm was cropland with around 40 acres of trees. Her father grew alfalfa and corn in the rich black soil of southwestern Iowa and along with the few head of cattle and chickens there was always plenty to eat during the difficult times of the depression. Margery was the oldest of three girls and although her two sisters worked in the fields with their father, Margery stayed at home to care for her mother. Her mother suffered from Narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and may result in falling asleep at inappropriate times, such as engaging in routine chores or housework.

She and her sisters attended grammar school at Spring Valley Country School, a one-room schoolhouse with a grand total of five students. "Sometimes there were as many as 15-20 with kids moving in and out during the depression," she said. It was just over one mile to school and she and her sisters walked everyday, except the few times when their dad would put all three girls on the back of Old Red, one of three family work horses, and walk them to school.

It was on the school bus to high school where she met the love of her life, Bob Irwin. The high school was located in the neighboring town of Tabor, about 6 miles up highway 275. The Irwins bought the farm next to Margery’s parents in the fall of 1942 and this was the first time she had seen the new neighbor boy. They became fast friends through high school and she remembers spending some summer afternoons riding horses together in the woods on her farm. "Sometimes we didn’t ride home until sunset, and we often held hands as we rode side by side toward home. Bob was kind of shy, so I would reach over and take hold of his hand," she recalled.

Margery and Bob eloped on September 13, 1947, and announced their marriage at a family reunion the following day. But it was no surprise to her mom, because Bob had told her on several occasions that he "was going to marry Margery one of these days." Their first son, Dwayne was born in 1948. The young couple spent their first year trying to make a go at farming, but as expenses mounted and income declined, they were forced to seek a new livelihood. So, in 1950, after the birth of their second son Terry, they packed up their belongings and headed into Western Nebraska, then into Kansas and finally settling in Kansas City, Missouri.

Since the time Margery was a teenager she occasionally experienced pain in her face, slight at first but by age thirty-five the pain became unbearable. Doctors delivered the bad news in 1962; her diagnosis was a condition called "tri-facial neuralgia" and the only certain relief was brain surgery. Bob spent every free moment nursing her during her four-month convalescence.

By 1966 both Bob and Margery were in flight school learning to fly. "Bob got his license first, so I just took the written exam but didn’t go to flight school," she said. The couple flew often and one of their favorite trips was to Nashville where they flew into the local airport, took a cab ride to the hotel and bought unsold front row tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. They once flew over Niagara Falls and another time buzzed Mt. Rushmore, a flight that Margery will always remember. "The monument is beautiful from the ground, but it’s spectacular from the air," she remembered.

By the early ’90’s Bob’s fifty years of smoking began to take its toll on his health. His breathing became labored, and he suffered uncontrolled fits of coughing. In spite of her urging and cajoling, Bob could not give up the habit and underwent lung surgery in 1995. Shortly after surgery, his lungs began to fill with fluids resulting in pneumonia and his prognosis was ominous. In the early morning hours of December 12th, Bob passed away. Margery had gone home for the evening exhausted from sitting up with him for so long for the past week. "He seemed very quiet when I left, but I had a very restless night and didn’t sleep much. But I never imagined that would be the last time I would see him alive," she said.

Bob’s extended illness and death left Margery physically and emotionally exhausted. She needed a change of scenery, so she bought a motor home, packed up some belongings and headed toward the mountains of Colorado, hoping to find solace and restoration. Her travels took her through Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota where she stopped at Mt Rushmore. "I just couldn’t drive past the monument without stopping. I think Bob would’ve liked that," she said."