Margaret "Margie" Ruth (McClaskey) Vogt passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2018, just shy of her 96th birthday. Margie was a life-long native of Pullman and was born in the town's hospital, a building that is now Kimball Funeral Home. Her late husband, Marvin, used to joke that she is a rare individual who will "come and go in the same place."
Margie met her late husband, Marvin, one Saturday night on Main Street in Palouse, Washington while he was working on her Aunt and Uncle Fugate's farm on the north side of Kamiak Butte. They married on September 18, 1943 at Fort McCellan, Alabama where Marvin served as a Staff Sergeant and chief cook in the officers' mess. Years later, Marvin admitted to skimming liquor from the Officers' drinks as they were living in a "dry" county and alcohol was hard to come by. Margie recounted an occasion during this three-year period away from Pullman, where she mistakenly drank from a "colored only" drinking fountain and used a "colored only" bathroom. She was sternly admonished for this misstep and never forgot the bigotry and prejudices her friends and neighbors suffered during this time.
Margie always said one of the best decisions the Vogts made was to co-purchase property on Couer d Alene Lake in Windy Bay with friends Art and Margaret Hard. From tents on the beach, later a tent platform, then a two-room cabin and outhouse, to two separate cabins with adjoining decks, the Vogts and Hards enjoyed over 60 years at the lake, and many holidays and life events in Pullman together.
Music has been a constant source of joy for her entire life. Margie began her musical training at 6 years old after her parents purchased a Wurlitzer piano in 1928. She loved to sing, and play the piano. Many close family and friends fondly remember phone calls from Margie playing Happy Birthday over the phone on her piano through the years. She sang in the choir in the Pullman American Baptist Church and later the Pullman Community Congregation Church up until months before she died.
While Margie and Marvin had no children, she is survived by "her kids" Peggy (Hard) Robinson Welsh and Rob Hard; her nephew Jim McClaskey; her "grands" Dan Robinson, Greg and Katie Robinson, Steve and Kendra and "great grand" Mazie Robinson; and many, many close friends she considered family. She is preceded in death by Marvin, and many other family members and dear friends.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday March 3 at 2:30 P.M., at the Pullman Community Congregational Church at 525 NE Campus Street, Pullman, WA 99163. Funeral arrangements are under the direction Kimball Funeral Home, Pullman, WA. Online condolences may be sent to www.kimballfh.com