1952
Margaret
2023
Margaret E. Stelmok
January 21, 1952 — December 9, 2023
Margaret E. Stelmok, 71, of West Columbia, passed away on Saturday, December 9, 2023 due to complications of dementia at the Memory Care unit of Woodbridge Senior Living in Clinton.
Margaret was born in Binghamton, New York and attended area schools there until graduating from Vestal Central High School in 1970. With the help of her doting mother Faith and maternal grandmother Cora, Marky (her nickname almost since birth) headed west to California in a monstrous used 4-door Buick sedan, selected by her mother for its survival qualities. In California she took the circuitous road less traveled to a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, awarded in 1994 by California State University Chico. Marky worked seasonally as a botanist for the U.S. Forest Service and as an intern learning about IPM (integrated pest management) in the orange groves surrounding Exeter, California, then found a career position working as an agricultural biologist at the Sutter County Agricultural Department until her retirement in 2017. Marky was always “on the job” stalking insects, spiders, and other wildlife and protecting Sutter County crops from infestations. Marky was known to sometimes take her work home with her, having pets such as a tarantula and Madagascar hissing cockroaches in addition to more traditional chickens, cats, and a dog. For many years Marky served as a California Master Gardener and as a volunteer in the California Naturalist Program, run by the UC Cooperative Extension.
Marky is survived by Robert N. (Bob) Strickland, her husband and partner of thirty years, whom she met while they were both employees on the Plumas National Forest near Milford, California, overlooking Honey Lake and the Great Basin in Nevada from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada forests.
Margaret’s family and friends express their sincere appreciation to the staff and management of Woodbridge Clinton, where Margaret received the best of care for the past four months. Also critical during those months was participation in the program administered and carried out by VIA Health Partners (formerly Hospice of Laurens County).
Rather than a memorial gathering, the family asks those who care to remember Marky to select a time of their choosing, to pause and meditate briefly, and to bid Marky farewell as best as they can.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of one’s choice. Nonprofits to consider are the Alzheimer’s Association, 123 W Antrim Drive, Greenville, SC 29607: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or Doctors without Borders, https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org
Gray Funeral Home of Clinton is assisting the family with arrangements.
Margaret was born in Binghamton, New York and attended area schools there until graduating from Vestal Central High School in 1970. With the help of her doting mother Faith and maternal grandmother Cora, Marky (her nickname almost since birth) headed west to California in a monstrous used 4-door Buick sedan, selected by her mother for its survival qualities. In California she took the circuitous road less traveled to a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, awarded in 1994 by California State University Chico. Marky worked seasonally as a botanist for the U.S. Forest Service and as an intern learning about IPM (integrated pest management) in the orange groves surrounding Exeter, California, then found a career position working as an agricultural biologist at the Sutter County Agricultural Department until her retirement in 2017. Marky was always “on the job” stalking insects, spiders, and other wildlife and protecting Sutter County crops from infestations. Marky was known to sometimes take her work home with her, having pets such as a tarantula and Madagascar hissing cockroaches in addition to more traditional chickens, cats, and a dog. For many years Marky served as a California Master Gardener and as a volunteer in the California Naturalist Program, run by the UC Cooperative Extension.
Marky is survived by Robert N. (Bob) Strickland, her husband and partner of thirty years, whom she met while they were both employees on the Plumas National Forest near Milford, California, overlooking Honey Lake and the Great Basin in Nevada from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada forests.
Margaret’s family and friends express their sincere appreciation to the staff and management of Woodbridge Clinton, where Margaret received the best of care for the past four months. Also critical during those months was participation in the program administered and carried out by VIA Health Partners (formerly Hospice of Laurens County).
Rather than a memorial gathering, the family asks those who care to remember Marky to select a time of their choosing, to pause and meditate briefly, and to bid Marky farewell as best as they can.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of one’s choice. Nonprofits to consider are the Alzheimer’s Association, 123 W Antrim Drive, Greenville, SC 29607: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or Doctors without Borders, https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org
Gray Funeral Home of Clinton is assisting the family with arrangements.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Margaret E. Stelmok, please visit our flower store.
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