Margaret Garwood

Margaret Ellen (Dee) Garwood was born January 28, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio, the firstborn of Matthew and Ellen Dee. She grew up in Parma, then in early adulthood enlisted in the service of her country as a medical transcriptionist in the U.S. Army. On April 28, 1945, she married Army Sgt. Arthur C. Garwood in Charleston, South Carolina, where they were both stationed at the time. Seven children were born to them in the ensuing years of her husband's 20-year Army career, during which time they lived in a number of different states, as well as Austria and Germany. Her commitment to personal faith in Jesus Christ, in 1951, became the underlying foundation of her life from then on. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the family lived in Richland, Missouri, and later at Brownfield. Then, in accomplishment of a long-time desire, Margaret and Arthur and friends, T.J. and Ruth Skinner, co-founded Fellowship Ranch, still in operation as a riverside Christian retreat for military personnel, located between Waynesville and Crocker, Missouri. In 1968, the family moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, where Margaret and Arthur served for a number of years on the staff of New Hope Christian School. During retirement they served for one year as houseparents at Drewstown House, a Christian boarding school in Ireland. They moved to Nixa, Missouri, in 2003, to be near their daughter, June. Margaret went peacefully home to the Lord on March 5, 2008, at Christian Health Care of Nixa, where she had been living since 2006. She is survived by her husband, Arthur, of Nixa; by three sons: Arthur, Jr., and his wife, Charlotte, of Overland Park, Kansas; Jim, of Sisters, Oregon; and David and his wife Rosalie of Three Hills, Alberta, Canada; by three daughters: June Soey and her husband Daryl of Nixa, Missouri; Nellie Bhasme and her husband Ben of Affton, Missouri; and Virginia Castillo and her husband Jack of Port Orchard, Washington; by her sister, Alice Olsavsky and her husband Joe of Parma, Ohio; by eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; and by numerous other relatives and dear friends. She was preceded in death by one daughter, Donna Donlan; by her brothers Matthew F. Dee and Ralph J. Dee; and by three grandchildren. Visitation will be 6:00 to 7:30 pm on Monday, March 10, 2008, at Herman Lohmeyer Funeral Home, 500 E. Walnut Street, Springfield. Funeral services will be at Herman Lohmeyer Funeral Home, at 11:30 am, on Tuesday, March 11, 2008, with interment to follow at Missouri Veterans' Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Back to the Bible, P.O. Box 82808, Lincoln, NE 68501-2808; or to Fellowship Ranch, 22552 Restful Lane, Waynesville, MO 65583. Online condolences can be shared at www.hhlohmeyer.com.