Marjorie Patricia Troutman

Marjorie Patricia Troutman née Bley, 90-year old Fort Jones resident, passed away peacefully at home on January 9, 2022 with her family by her side. She had celebrated her 90th birthday in San Francisco one month earlier. She was born in Brooklyn, New York - the only daughter of Henri Jacques Bley, an immigrant from Holland, and Justine Louise Stahl of New York, descended from a French family of glassblowers. She was an only child who grew up surrounded by music. She was graduated in 1952 from the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and was blessed with a coloratura soprano voice. In 1954 she married her soul mate Harvey in New Jersey slowly moving westwards with her husband's jobs in the late '50s/early 60s - first to Maine, then Michigan, Colorado, and finally California in 1966. Along the way, she worked as an Executive Secretary and raised two children. With her young family, she began coming to Scott Valley in the early 1970s for holidays, eventually retiring to Fort Jones in 1992. She loved her piece of tranquility in the Scott Valley and could not fathom leaving it even in her later years. Her husband preceded her in death in 1997, after which Marjorie enrolled at College of the Siskiyous as a mature age student for a number of years. While she loved her time at CoS, History and English proved to be her most treasured subjects, with mementos - including a picture of herself with classmates dressed in character for a WW2 history project, and her English final paper - kept long after she had finished at the College. After CoS, she subscribed to Great Courses of the World 'classes' via DVD for many years, and travelled widely with her seniors group, as well as on her own to Australia, Cambodia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand. She habitually read the Christian Science Monitor to keep up on world affairs, and indeed was interested in the world at large throughout her life. Marjorie was a lifelong member of the First Church of Christ Scientist and supported many organizations by volunteering her time and talents, including reading to children at the Fort Jones Library; as Treasurer and 2nd Reader in the local Christian Science Church as well as soloist/pianist in Yreka, and later in Medford; as pianist in the United Methodist Church in Fort Jones until very recently; and to the Valley Oaks Seniors Center. Both her handwriting and shorthand were textbook to look at them, and she was still transcribing board meeting minutes in shorthand in the weeks before she passed away. While she loved her Agatha Christie, Angela Lansbury and Golden Girls programs, Marjorie loved dogs even more, and was a big supporter of the Rescue Ranch in Yreka, and other national animal-oriented non-profit organizations - dogs were indeed lifelong companions for her. Her last pooches, Hans and Peach, were equally devoted to her, and would sit up next to her piano to have her play for them yet again. Above all, Marjorie was most grateful for both the small gestures and more significant assistance she had from everyone around her. Her caregivers in the past year; her dear friends including Harriet and Ruth; neighbors moving cows back home when they had 'found freedom' on Marj's property; help with the garden and house; the car rides to church, and to Seniors, and to lunch on Christmas when she was unable to travel further afield; and of course for the many phone calls and chats over the years. She is survived by her children Mark (wife Paula in Singapore, and Ellen Baldwin in Orange County, as well as 3 grandchildren Nicole, Matthew and Madeleine, all of whom she loved dearly. Marjorie lived a very full life... her quiet presence and kind words will be missed. Interment was in the Fort Jones Cemetery.

Marjorie Patricia Troutman

December 5, 1931 - January 9, 2022