- Date Of Birth: February 10, 1918
- Date Of Death: December 17, 2014
- State: Idaho
Marjorie Jonasson, 96, died Wednesday, December 17, 2014 in Seattle Washington from complications associated with dementia. She was a long time resident of Boise Idaho.
Marjorie was born in Sandpoint, Idaho on February 10, 1918 to Thorvald and Clara (Boehne) Nielson. She moved as a small child to a farm near Ontario, Oregon with her parents and four siblings. She grew up there and then moved to Boise after high school, and attended business school. She spent most of the rest of her life in Boise except for a few years in San Francisco around the time of World War II. She then spent her last three years in Seattle.
Marjorie was predeceased by three husbands: Alfred B. Jonasson, Basil Celany and George Dell Daedo as well as her four siblings, Kathryn Harris, Dorothy Holton, Ward Nielson, and Ruth Lind.
She is survived by her two children, Stan Jonasson and Joanne Rittmueller; two grand children, Carmen Vendelin and Zach Jonasson: and three great grand children Anastasia (Aspen) Vendelin, Henry Jonasson, and Aesa Jonasson.
Marjorie was a civic leader and activist. She worked with others to form a Young Republican’s Club in Idaho. She was a founding member of the Idaho Women’s Republican Club. Then she worked to elect officials that agreed with her ideology. Marjorie became interested in the areas of education, juvenile problems, mental health, and adoption laws.
She worked as a bookkeeper for Peterson Motors, Bank of America while in San Francisco , and Wheely Motors, before running for elected office. She served Ada County as its treasurer for twenty years from 1967 -1987. In her first election she had so many write in votes on the Democratic ticket that she won both primaries even though she was listed on the Republican ticket. She worked to computerize the Treasurer’s office and began investing taxpayers’ taxes to help reduce the need for tax increases. As treasurer, she was elected as the Legislative Chair woman where she lobbied the legislature on behalf of county treasurers. She often worked with the assessor’s office in this capacity. The two offices worked to get a law passed which provided a tax circuit breaker for very low income people so they would not lose their homes.
Marjorie sat on numerous boards including United Way, Red Cross, and Ada County Mental Health.
Marjorie’s faith was a central point in her life.
In her last years, Marjorie struggled with memory issues in her life. She was inspirational to her family and others in that she was positive and sweet after an initial adjustment . She retained her wit and smile even as things became difficult for her. Her caregivers as well as the residents were very fond of her, enjoying her humor and attitude. Her favorite saying was, “Whatever will be will be.” She also always loved to dance and danced in her 96th year. She was an inspiration to many over her ninety-six years.
