Margaret Paull Messner (Marg)

Margaret was born May 27, 1930, and raised in Laurium, Michigan, the third child of Elise T. and Arthur E. Paull. She spoke often about growing up on Kearsarge Street and spending summers at the family cottage in Bootjack, reminding all that she was “the rose between two thorns” – her brothers Bill and Jim.

She graduated from Calumet High School (1948) and Michigan State University (1952) with a degree in elementary education. She was a proud member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority, a sisterhood she embraced her entire life.

She married her long-time sweetheart D. James (Jim) Messner ( Calumet High class of ’48; Michigan Tech class of 1952; deceased 2015). In 1953, and the couple moved to Stuttgart, Germany. Margaret taught elementary school on the Army base where Jim served. Stories and slide shows of their European adventures enriched many a family dinner in later years.

Their next stop was the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, where they started a family that would grow to four children and eight grandchildren. Margaret was the guiding force in that sometimes challenging job, with a favorite saying: “This too shall pass” as evidence of her wisdom. A full cookie jar was one of her favorite methods for keeping her family happy and headed in the right direction.

She was a familiar face in her children’s classrooms and in their scouting and Little League, also working as a substitute teacher when she could. Margaret enjoyed socializing more than cards in bridge clubs and made many friends as the family moved to Fridley, MN, San Diego, CA, and then Bellevue, WA.

What started with “Come over for coffee” was followed up over the years by handwritten Christmas cards and birthday phone calls that kept her friends close. Margaret enjoyed a good joke and could dish it out as well as she could take it. To no one’s surprise, in later years she was an active and adoring Grandma.

She will be remembered for her cheerful greetings and always ready smile, and greatly missed by all who knew her, but especially her children Don (Karen), Bob (Mary), Dave (Susan), Kristy Kutz (Nathan), and her eight grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held Saturday August 27, 2022, at 11 A.M. at Lake View Cemetery, Calumet Michigan.