Marjorie Chilcote

May 11, 1924 - January 4, 2011

Marjorie Madge Chilcote passed away peacefully on Jan. 4, 2011, at her home in Corvallis. She was 86 years old. Marjorie was born on May 11, 1924, in Helena, Mont., to Mike and Madge Osenbrug. She and her parents later moved to Newell, S.D., where she and her older sister, Jane Anne, graduated from high school. Marjorie then attended Iowa State University, where she was a member of the debate team and received a degree in education. While attending college, she met and later became engaged to William W. Chilcote, whom she married after his U.S. Navy service was completed at the end of World War II. Marjorie and her husband moved to Corvallis in 1951, where Bill became a professor at Oregon State University. They soon purchased a home in northwest Corvallis where they resided for the rest of their lives. In 1958, Marjorie's family traveled to Helsinki, Finland, where they lived for one year during Bill's sabbatical. Bill passed away at their home in 2007. Marjorie was married to Bill Chilcote for 63 years. Marjorie's surviving older sister, Jane Anne Cooper, lives in Orono, Maine. All of her other immediate family members live in Oregon. Marjorie has two sons, Mark Chilcote and wife Victoria, and John Chilcote and wife Elizabeth. Marjorie has five grandchildren, Amy, Heather, Rocio, Anna and Len. She has two great-grandchildren, Braeden and Conner. Marjorie's brother-in-law, Dave Chilcote, and his wife, Beverly, also live in Corvallis. Marjorie, along with her husband and children, spent most of her free time in Oregon's outdoors and wilderness areas. She and her family started backpacking in the late 1950s throughout Oregon and many Western states, national parks and wilderness areas. She was an avid downhill and cross-country skier, and spent most weekends skiing, hiking, backpacking and camping, much of it based from the family cabin near the Santiam Pass. She enjoyed music, singing and playing the piano, and she performed with the Northwest Banjo Band for many years. Later in life, Marjorie and her husband made numerous trips throughout the Cascade Mountains, the Oregon high desert, Western states, and Alaska, to hike, bird-watch and photograph wildflowers and wilderness scenes. Marjorie traveled in Europe, Canada and the Galapagos Islands. She was a member of the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. She was very politically engaged, and was a member of the League of Women Voters of Corvallis for more than 50 years. She was a strong advocate of the rights and responsibilities of every individual to be objectively informed and always to vote. She placed high value on service to our community. A memorial gathering and service will take place in February, for family members only, to celebrate her long and meaningful life. Her wishes were that any contributions in her name be given to the League of Women Voters at LWV of Corvallis, P.O. Box 1679, Corvallis, 97339, or www.lwv.corvallis.or.us.