Margaret M. Wilborg (Marge) passed away quietly in her bed while residing at North Whidbey Adult Family Home on Sept. 2, 2010. She was born as Margaret Emily McMenamin in Chicago on May 9, 1922. As a young child, she moved with her parents and six siblings to northern New Jersey and graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1940. Her yearbook described her ambition: “To be a success as a private secretary.” She met her future husband, Herbert E. Wilborg (Herb), at a roller skating rink and married him two years later.

Two months after marriage, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Marge became a Western Electric employee, making light bulbs for submarines. Herb was also working at Western Electric when drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944. Marge took a train to an army training base in Georgia to introduce Herb to their first child for a weekend before she had to return to New Jersey. Marge did not see her husband again before he shipped out to Europe. She was the sole parent until Herb returned from Germany in 1946. Marge then found work in a pharmacy until she and Herb bought their first home in 1950. Two more children were born while living in that house.

The family moved to South Carolina in 1957 because Whitehead Brothers [foundry supplies] Company transferred Herb there. Marge soon found part-time work as a personal secretary to a pulpwood entrepreneur, which allowed her to be a mom whenever her kids were in the house. Herb’s work transferred the family back to New Jersey in 1965.

In January of 1973, Herb and Marge visited their eldest son in Alaska. Despite the cold and limited road system, they fell in love with the 49th State and moved to Soldotna, Alaska, in July of that year. Marge found several secretarial jobs before becoming Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Don Gilman’s executive secretary in 1975, a position that she loved until she retired in 1981. After that, she (and Herb) spent countless hours volunteering for the local Planned Parenthood, Kenai Senior Center and at the Kenai Library. Marge and Herb eventually moved from Soldotna to Kenai and lived at Vintage Pointe Manor.

Herb died in 2002. Marge moved to Oak Harbor, the following year to be near her elder son. She moved from her own home in Oak Harbor to Summer Hill Assisted Living Facility, then to HomePlace as Alzheimer’s began to overwhelm her thinking processes. North Whidbey Adult Family Home became Marge’s final home this past May.

Marge was preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings. Surviving her are her sons Jim Wilborg (and Barbara) of Oak Harbor and Barney Wilborg of Statesville, N.C., daughter Nancy W. Ryan of Lower Lake, Calif., and one granddaughter Rachel T. Wihlborg of Everett.

The caring work of Burley Funeral Chapel of Oak Harbor at the time of Marge’s death was greatly appreciated by the family.

At Marge’s request, no services will be conducted. Contributions, for those who wish, may be made to their local senior center or branch of Planned Parenthood in Marge Wilborg’s memory.

Marge’s ashes will be spread in the Pacific Ocean, where they will eventually join Herb’s.