Margaret Boatwright

Margaret Arlene Wells Boatwright of Alsea died Monday at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Marge was born to Harry Wells and Lottie Ellen Pemberton Wells on Aug. 9, 1928, in Payette, Idaho. The family moved to Colorado and lived on a cattle ranch during the Depression. They moved back to Idaho and then on to Oregon in 1936; they settled on Pioneer Loop near Dallas. Before graduating from Dallas High School in 1946, Marge worked as a nurse’s assistant at Dallas Hospital, and worked at the Camp Adair military base malt shop during the summer. While working at the Salem cannery, she met Chuck Boatwright, and they married on Aug. 27, 1946, in Salem. They settled in Alsea, at the head of Salmonberry Creek, for several months, and then returned to Dallas shortly before the birth of their son Don in June 1947. They returned to the Alsea area, living in Lobster Valley and then near the Alsea Cemetery when their son Dennis was born in July 1949. In 1950, they acquired property off Salmonberry Road along the Alsea River, where they made their home, raised two sons, and both lived out their lives. Marge was an excellent cook and extraordinary, loving sister, mother, grandmother, aunt and neighbor. She kept in touch with and loved visiting with friends and family. Marge loved gardening, and could grow nearly anything she set her mind to: vegetables, houseplants, cacti, roses and an array of beautiful outdoor flowers. She enjoyed knitting craft items for children, and she especially loved to crochet, making countless doilies, end-stand covers and tablecloths of all sizes with intricate and beautiful designs. She also enjoyed watching the birds and animals that came around her house, as long as they stayed out of her garden and flowers. During the summer, she would set out hummingbird feeders, and they must have come from miles around, as there would be 20 or more around at any one time, and they would empty two one-quart feeders a day. She set out wild birdseed on her back deck, and had several varieties of birds and squirrels to watch while they enjoyed the handout. Marge was preceded in death by her husband, Chuck Boatwright, in 1990; father, Harry Wells, in 1959; mother, Lottie Wells, in 1978; brothers Marion Wells in 1993, Carl Wells in 1935, and twins Rosco and Boliver Wells in 1936; and sisters Sylvia Tucker in 2009, Leona Wells in 1927, and Ruby Wells in 1928. Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law Don and Nancy Boatwright of Corvallis; son Dennis Boatwright of Alsea; brother and sister-in-law Harold and Betty Wells of Marcola; sister and brother-in-law Rosie and Rick Spalding of Waldport; eight grandchildren: grandson and granddaughter-in-law Jeff and Sandra of Alsea, grandson Dennis Allen of Philomath, grandson Jimmy of Alsea, grandson Kevin of Corvallis, grandson and granddaughter-in-law Bryan and Katie of Navarre, Fla., granddaughter Elicia of Olathe, Kan., granddaughter and grandson-in-law Jennifer and Dennis of Corvallis, and granddaughter and grandson-in-law Katie and Ryan of Albany; seven great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and numerous nephews and nieces. An interment service for immediate family members and anyone who feels him or herself a family member will take place at noon Jan. 15 at the Alsea Cemetery, one mile west of Alsea, before Alsea Baptist Church. A memorial service will follow the interment at 1 p.m. at Hope Grange, one mile south of Alsea on Alsea-Deadwood Highway, with a potluck, time of sharing memories and celebrating the life of a wonderful person. Memorial contributions can be made to Benton Hospice Service.

Margaret Boatwright

August 9, 1928 - December 20, 2010