Marjorie M. Sassaman Howell “Marge”

Marjorie M. Sassaman Howell “Marge” left us to be with her Lord Jesus and to be reunited with her husband Reed on Sept. 8, 2011.

She will be dearly missed by all her loved ones she left behind but they all are happy for her to be free from the pain she has been in for the past several years.

Marge was born in Upper Black Eddy in Southeastern Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, 1929 to James Norman (Poppy) and Lillian Mills Sassaman. She grew up in a loving family with four brothers: William, Darwin “Dandy”, Ronald “Pork”, Norman “Dutch” and four sisters: Melba, Shirley, June and Rosemarie “Pat.”

In her younger years she worked as a nanny and housekeeper for various families in the area as well as attending to many chores around home. It was at this time she developed her excellent cooking skills and also her ability to care for others.

During her late teens she worked in various jobs outside the home including factories such as the “Dixie cup” plant and eventually in a lab at Kerr Chickeries, a hatchery in Frenchtown, NJ where she met her husband Reed.

She married Reed on Jan. 25, 1951. They spent the next 12 years traveling back and forth from Polson to the New England area (Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). In the spring they would pack up their belongings and head west to Montana where Reed did his farming (although Marge didn’t want to live on a farm so they lived in Polson and Reed would travel to nearby Charlo and Moiese for the farming). They raised four boys and the cross-country trips ended a year after the birth of their third son and they settled permanently in Polson.

Throughout her life Marge’s greatest desire was caring for her boys and always planning the next meal, hopefully getting the family together to share it. She was very artistic in the form of decorating cookies and cakes. Anyone who attended school with her boys would attest to the wonderful treats provided to the classes on holidays, birthdays, etc.

Marge spent most of her life caring for others including some difficult years after Reed was diagnosed with cancer. She was able to care for him at home up to the final hours when he was taken to heaven in 1989. She was blessed with the ability to live out the later stages of her life in her home in Polson surrounded by her sons and their families in the area as well as numerous visits from her sons, their families and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren out of Polson. Scones for breakfast, chicken noodle soup and Grandma Marge’s Lasagna were some of the favorites.

Now she can rest in the arms of Jesus and be even closer to his loving care for eternity.

Marge was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, two sisters and her husband Reed. She is survived by a brother, two sisters, her four sons (Gary, Greg, Randy, Jeff) and their families including 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Grogan Funeral Home in Polson at 11 a.m. on Monday Sept. 12. Visitation will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. with the service following. In lieu of flowers, condolences may be sent to Jeff Howell c/o Grogan Funeral Home for a memorial to be determined later.

Messages of condolence may be sent to the family online at www.groganfuneralhome.com. The staff of Grogan Funeral Home, Polson, considers it a privilege to care for Mrs. Howell’s family.