Wilder, Vt. —
Margie was a woman of many accomplishments and contributions, not only for her family, but the various communities in which she lived, all despite suffering a severe hearing handicap. Having received her Bachelor’s degree with highest honors at Massachusetts State College in 1943, as the third generation of four to attend what is now UMass, she moved to Chicago with a keen interest in recreation management. There, legend tells, she met her future husband, Bob Hybels, in a swamp, while he was helping guide her class on a nature outing. Despite the bug bites, they were smitten. He was not long back from “The War”, where he had served in Europe. Their marriage began in 1947 and did not really end at Bob’s death in 2009. Marge was his most dedicated helpmate and caregiver throughout their days together.
A boy from the city of Kalamazoo, what Bob learned about nature, he learned from her. But he was a fine teacher too, and went on to teach American history, sociology, social psychology, library studies, and English at Newton Junior College, Clark University, and Rockland (Maine) High School. Later, they both taught at Elder Hostels. Perhaps it was at Rockland that he most learned to appreciate the New England Yankee culture his wife had grown up in.
She was, indeed, a Mayflower Yankee through and through. But, in embracing Bob, she also embraced his Dutch heritage and Michigan family.
When Bob received Fulbright scholarships in the 1950s to teach in the Netherlands and Denmark, Marge welcomed the opportunities wholeheartedly, as well as the birth of their first two sons. She especially embraced Dutch cuisine, learning to make such delectable baked goods as banket, poffertjes, and vet bollen.
While raising three boys in Needham, Mass, Marge served in multiple positions in First Parish, Unitarian, including as the minister’s secretary and chair of the Parish Committee, occasionally presenting her own sermons. She also served as a volunteer leader in the Camp Fire Girls and Cub Scouts, the League of Women Voters, and the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing. In recognition, she was named a United Way Volunteer of the Year.
Marge also served as Director of the Needham Senior Adult Center, which she greatly enhanced and expanded. In that venue and others, she taught lip-reading to many hundreds of seniors.
Marge is survived by her son, Derek and his wife, Celia and their daughter, Sarah, of Durham, N.C., her son, Carl, of Fremont, N.H., and her son, Ralph and his wife, Catherine and their sons, Kevin and Justin, of Norwich, Vt.; as well as her beloved sister, Norma, of Wilder.
A memorial service, and celebration of her life, will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley on Friday, June 16, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in her name be made to the Upper Valley Haven or a charity of one’s choice.
Perhaps what her sons remember most fondly of their mom, in addition to crabmeat sandwiches on Mount Battie, is waking up in the family cabin to news on the radio and the scent of pancakes wafting up to the loft.