Margaret Shetler

Margaret Anne Shetler, 100, of Silverton, Ore., died June 13, 2022. She was born March 18, 1922, to Courtney and Thelma Rae (Taylor) Pursley in Oroville, Wash.

Her family migrated to where there was work, eventually settling in Salem, and then moving to the Aurora area. She graduated from Canby High School in 1940.

She was not raised in a Christian home, but attended Sunday school on her own. She put her faith and trust in Jesus as her Lord and Savior and joined Hopewell Mennonite Church. She became a member of Zion Mennonite Church in Hubbard in 1967 and remained so the rest of her life.

She attended Hesston College in Kansas, graduating in 1943. She worked as secretary for the president of the college. There she met Ralph Shetler, and they were married on May 30, 1943. They lived most of their married life in Oregon, near Hubbard, and then in the Scotts Mills area.

She worked for several years as a medical secretary for Dr. Pickering, first at the medical school in Portland and later at Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in Beaverton.

She was a member of the Oregon Mennonite Historical and Genealogical Society. She authored and co-authored several books and finished writing her own life story at the age of 90.

Her faith in the Lord shaped her life, through her love for her family, service at church and hospitality to many invited into their home. She was dedicated to her work as a historian and archivist. She loved making quilts and quilting weekly with her church’s quilting circle.

Survivors include six children, Marvin (Shirl) Shetler of Aumsville, David Shetler of Fort Pierce, Fla., Howard (Rosie) Shetler of Scotts Mills, Jerold (Joan) Shetler of Scotts Mills, Ruby (Tim) Honan of Depoe Bay and Lawrence (Flo) Shetler of Lakeside, Mont.; 29 grandchildren; 86 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a stillborn son, Daniel, in 1956; her husband, Ralph, in 2004; and three siblings, Myron, John and Dorothy.

 

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