- Date Of Birth: August 17, 1926
- Date Of Death: December 28, 2020
- State: Minnesota
MARGARET ALBERTA (WELTON) WHITEHEAD, AGE 94, PASSED AWAY ON DECEMBER 28, 2020, AT THE MEMORY CARE UNIT OF EDGEWOOD VISTA IN VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA.
MARGARET WAS BORN ON AUGUST 17, 1926, ON A FAMILY VACATION IN LACOMB, ALBERTA, CANADA. SHE WAS BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD IN A WELTON FAMILY HOME. HER OLDER BROTHER ROY WAS HEARD TO SAY, “I’VE CHANGED 4 TIRES, I HOPE I DON’T HAVE TO CHANGE HER!”
AFTER THE FAMILY PURCHASED A RANCH ON PASS CREEK IN WYOMING WHICH THEY NAMED THE HAT CREEK RANCH , THEY FIRST MOVED FROM, FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA AND THEN DENVER, COLORADO. SHE GREW UP ON THAT VAST RANCH AT THE BASE OF BEAUTIFUL ELK MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 40 MILES EAST OF RAWLINS, WYOMING. THE LAND WAS SPRAWLING AND NEVER ENDING. IT WAS THERE IN A ONE ROOM SCHOOL HOUSE THAT HER DAD HAD BUILT THAT SHE AND HER 2 SISTERS ATTENDED DAILY CLASSES. HER 3 BROTHERS WERE EITHER WORKING ON THE RANCH OR ATTENDING HIGH SCHOOL IN RAWLINS; AS SHE AND HER SISTERS WOULD, AS WELL. THEY STAYED AT A BOARDING HOUSE DURING THE WEEK AND RODE THE BUS TO WALCOTT JUNCTION, WHERE HER FOLKS WOULD PICK THEM UP AND GO BACK HOME TO THE RANCH FOR THE WEEKEND.
UPON GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL MID YEAR IN DECEMBER, SHE THEN HEADED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING IN LARAMIE AND OBTAINED A SECRETARIAL DEGREE WITH ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER JOBS WAITING FOR HER IN RAWLINS… SECRETARY FOR THE TRAIN MASTER OF UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD. IT WAS THERE SHE MET JOHN WHITEHEAD WHO WAS SOON TO BECOME HER HUSBAND. THEY STARTED DATING IN THE LATE SUMMER OF 1945 AND MARRIED ON FEBRUARY 1, 1946. THEY HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR 74 YEARS.
MARGARET AND JOHN HAD 3 CHILDREN: STEVE, RANDY, AND SHANNON. SHE WAS ALWAYS A SELFLESS AND LOVING MOTHER AND SUPPORTED EVERYTHING HER CHILDREN AND HER HUSBAND WERE INVOLVED WITH. THE FAMILY ALL WATERSKIED, FISHED, SNOW SKIED, AND RODE SNOWMOBILES. IT WAS A GREAT WAY FOR THE FAMILY TO BE TOGETHER, AND THAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO MARGARET.
SHE AND JOHN USED TO SQUARE DANCE AND ATTEND DINNERS WITH THE JUNIOR OLD TIMERS, A FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION OF THE U. P. RAILROAD.
HER HOBBIES INCLUDED SEWING CLUB, OUTINGS WITH THE BAWAAS ( A WOMEN’S FRIENDSHIP CLUB), PLAYING BRIDGE, MUSIC, AND SWIMMING. SHE SANG AND PLAYED PIANO, ORGAN, GUITAR, AND BANJO AND SHARED THE LOVE OF MUSIC WITH HER CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN AND LATER ON WITH HER FRIENDS, PLAYING AND HAVING CHRISTMAS SING-A-LONGS AT THE LIBRARY IN RAWLINS.
IN 1994 SHE WON 2ND PLACE IN THE SENIOR CITIZEN OLYMPICS IN SWIMMING, HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING (LARAMIE). SHE PROUDLY HAD HER SILVER MEDAL IN A FRAME. SHE HAD CONTINUED “LAP SWIMMING” AT THE LOCAL YMCA AND AT THE HOLIDAY INN, AS RECENTLY AS 5 YEARS AGO.
AFTER JOHN RETIRED FROM THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD WITH 41 YEARS AS AN ENGINEER, THEIR TRUE YEARS OF TRAVELING BEGAN. THEY HAD YEARS OF TENTS, CAMPERS ON PICKUPS, MOTOR HOMES, AND FINALLY FIFTH WHEELS…AND ALWAYS WITH A BOAT BEHIND THEM! THEY TRAVELED THROUGH MANY STATES, WITH NEVADA FINALLY WINNING, SO THEY LIVED ABOARD A 35 FOOT BOAT ON LAKE MEAD. LATER THEY MOVED ON TO HENDERSON, NEVADA, ENDING UP IN SUN CITY WEST, ARIZONA FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS.
HER DAUGHTER AND HUSBAND THEN MOVED THEM UP TO VIRGINIA TO BE CLOSER TOGETHER. SHE AND JOHN LIVED AT EDGEWOOD VISTA IN INDEPENDENT LIVING, ASSISTED LIVING, AND FINALLY MEMORY CARE BECAUSESHE NEEDED MUCH MORE ATTENTION DUE TO ALZHEIMER’S.
SHE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HER PARENTS ALICE LOUISE (TIEL) AND ALBERT LEVI WELTON; HER SIBLINGS RICHARD (DICK), ALBERT (BUD), CHARLES (ROY), ELEANOR, AND DOROTHY.
SHE WAS THE LAST LIVING WELTON CHILD.
MARGARET IS SURVIVED BY HER HUSBAND: JOHN; HER SONS: STEVE, WYOMING (FORMER WIFE ROBIN, NEBRASKA), RANDY (NANCY), GEORGIA; AND HER DAUGHTER: SHANNON LEE (DALE) GUNDERSON, VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA; HER GRANDCHILDREN: SHAWN, LESLIE, AND TRAVIS WHITEHEAD, MISTY GURNEE, PHILLIP AND PRESTON GUNDERSON; GREAT GRANDCHILDREN: ASHLEE (BLAKE) SNELLGROVE, MARTY GURNEE, SKYLER AND MARLEE TAFOYA, ANABELA WHITEHEAD, ELIAS, MICAH, AND SEVERIN EDWARDS; AND HER GREAT- GREAT GRANDCHILDREN: PAISLEE ROOKS AND WILLIAM ARROE SNELLGROVE. SHE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY SO MANY LOVING NIECES, GREAT NIECES AND NEPHEWS, AS WELL AS MANY FAMILY FRIENDS.
THE FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE WONDERFUL HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT THE EDGEWOOD VISTA MEMORY CARE FOR THEIR KIND, TENDER, AND COMPASSIONATE CARE FOR OUR MOTHER.
SHE SIMPLY WAS THE BEST…AND WILL BE MISSED SORELY BY HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
THERE WILL BE NO SERVICE AT THIS TIME, BUT A FAMILY MEMORIAL DURING THE SUMMER IS PLANNED.
MOTHERS HOLD THEIR CHILDREN’S HANDS FOR A SHORT WHILE, BUT THEIR HEARTS FOREVER!
