Mother

Margie had to quit High School and go to work at the age of fifteen. She got a job in Buckeye as a waitress owned by Mr. Jack Gable. It was there that she met Desmond. In 1937 Margie and Alice Cramer represented Buckeye at a bathing beauty contest held at Mesa, on Labor Day. The entering of these two popular local girls made for a goodwill feeling between the towns of Mesa and Buckeye. Fifteen girls competed in the contest for the title of "Miss Arizona," Miss Joyce Johnson, of Mesa won the title.

She was a very hard worker. She was isolated for years out in that "God Forsaken Desert" and as a result had very few close friends. This made for a very lonely life, especially during the empty nest years. There never was a Church of any kind built in the Cotton Center Community. So this also contributed to her loneliness. It's very difficult to cultivate friends when one works 10 hours, 7-day weeks.

She taught us children the art of good hygiene, proper dress, and gave us all the care of a loving mother. She worked from 6 AM until 2 PM then she would go home, take a nap, get up, bathe and dress up for the evening at the Cos Mo, fix dinner and help close up. Dad worked the evening shift until midnight. So they would close up together most nights.

She had a big heart and every Christmas; there wasn't a transient child in the entire community that didn't get a Christmas present. I remember she use to order boxes of peppermint candy canes to hand out. She loved to decorate our home. Of course, we lived in the store. It was most unusual but very workable.
I’ll share just one of her many kind and thoughtful deeds with you.

On one of her shopping trips to Phoenix, she was waiting across the street from the bus stop to catch the bus home. She was in Walgreen’s 5 & 10 store. They were serving a new dish called Pizza. She tried some and loved it. Well after arriving home she shared with us about how wonderful this new food tasted. We asked her why she didn’t bring us some and she said, “She would on her next trip”. Our place was not an official bus stop. Bare in mind that in order for her to catch a bus, she would have to drive up to the Cos*Mo Café before 6 am, stand out on the side of Highway 80 and waive the bus down to get it to stop. Just before boarding the Greyhound Bus Lines on her next return trip from Phoenix, mom purchased one large pepperoni pizza. Phoenix was only an hour from our place normally, but three hours by bus because of all the stops in small towns. About half way home that thing covered with Parmesan cheese began to smell really bad, as you can imagine. All the passengers began looking around and making frowns. Mother had it stashed overhead in the luggage rack. She never said a word and when the bus stopped to let her off, she simply took her cold pizza off the rack and off the bus. But when we sampled the new food that she had raved so much about, we were a little disappointed in the hard crusted, cold cheesed, smelly bread. We were not very grateful for all she went through for us.

Momma was a very loving mother and I'll never forget her special ways of making us feel special. Just before Silky would come home from collage on the weekends, she would go to the store and stock up on the treats he loved the most. And all the years after I left home she would mail my Easter Baskets filled with my favorite nail polish and perfume. Or on Valentines she would mail me a big box of heart chocolates.

In her latter years while visiting me in Houston she gave her life to the Lord on February of 1977. We had attended a home bible study and she had been very sick. She had arthritis all over her body and could hardly scoot her feet to walk. That night just after the meeting was closing, When Tom Morrison prayed for her, she was dramatically healed of crippling arthritis. She was barely able to shuffle her feet to get around or lift her arms. But after Tom prayed for her, her swelled feet and toes shrunk down to normal, all the pain left her body and she proceeded to run down the hall. The Lord dramatically worked a creative miracle in her body. I was a new Christian and didn’t know God did such things. She couldn't wait for Dad to fly into Texas when we could meet him at the airport, so she could run to meet him. It was a very special time for all of us.

Having her spiritual life in order she was finally free to go on to the other side. Mother had at least seven major surgeries during her life. She worked very hard and long hours and her health was poor. The latter part of that year in a vision I had just prior to moms death, I saw Mother's father Fred Baker, come to escort her into Heaven. I was given this dream or what ever it was two times that day. She passed away of liver decease in Phoenix Memorial Hospital on September 20th that same year. Don't ask me why the Lord didn't heal her liver, because I have no idea why God does things the way he does.

Funeral services were held at the Baptist Church in Buckeye and the place was packed out. The same preacher, Jerry Laird, that had ministered to her in Houston, Texas, affiliated the service. It was held at 10:30 a.m. It was a very unusual service, many were praising the Lord and there was a beautiful spirit of joy that filled the sanctuary. Many family members came up afterward and said that they had had been deeply touched in the service. There was no graveside service because she was cremated. There was laughter and floods of love shared afterwards during the visiting time. Daddy had asked us to rush him off immediately after the funeral because he didn't want to be involved in a lot of crying and such, but as it turned out, he was the very last one standing at the church visiting and laughing. When the Lord touches your life there is Joy unspeakable, who knows how it all works?

Bearers were: Shannon Killman, Ron Hansen, Gary Morris, and Woodrow

Killman Jr., Vernon Schulz and Rantz Killman. There were many friends and family in attendance. The preacher that ministered to her so much on her visit to Houston preached the funeral.

The following April on Easter morning the family and many friends of Mom and Dad’s headed into the desert. We drove East of the Cos*Mo to witness the sunrise on the day of the Resurrection of Christ and attend a Memorial service dedicated to Mom. The area had been officially named after her. "Margie's Cove and Margie's Peek." The pilot, Darrell Williams, Daddy and I flew over the sight and Dad powdered the area with Mother's ashes. We gathered at the site where Mom and Dad had many picnics at Easter time. Dad would drive way out there between those two big mountain peeks and gather firewood and prepare the site. Mom would fix a big fried chicken dinner and when we got out there, Dad would have already hid all the Easter Eggs. They always made holidays so special.

Mother is remembered by her fragrance. She always smelled so good. All my life I can remember customers complimenting her on “ How good she smelled”. She wore Shalimar and Channel #5, but no one could ware it like her.

My mother in law, Mickey Killman said, " While she was dressing to come to the funeral, a presence and fragrance of Mother filled her bedroom. Mickey was trying to decide what color to ware when she felt as though Mother told her to "Ware Red" to celebrate her departure" and she did.

Urban Wood said " He was walking to his car and as he approached the white picked fence, Mother's presence and fragrance lingered around him for a time and he felt a great piece come over him.

My mother had many wonderful attributes, but I am most thankful for all the creative talent she passed on to us.