GRAVESIDE SERVICE

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

2:30 PM

FORT SAM HOUSTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Coastal Conservation Association of Texas, 6919 Portwest Dr, Ste 100, Houston, TX 77024, 1-800-201-FISH.

Margery spoke Turkish and French, in addition to English, and was a very accomplished knitter. She knit many children’s sweaters over the years for the Guideposts “Knit for Kids” charity program. She had a whimsical sense of humor, and a love of wordplay, puns, tongue-twisters, the poet Ogden Nash, stories from Stoopnagle’s My Tale is Twisted, Sue Grafton’s detective novels, anything chocolate, and soap operas.

Margery was a kind, warm and friendly person, who loved laughing, talking and having good times with family and friends. She attended Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and was a believing Christian. She was also tenacious, and survived both breast and uterine cancer.

Margery was an avid hummingbird watcher, and for years faithfully attended the HummerBird Celebration held each September in Rockport-Fulton, Texas, during the peak of the fall migration of ruby-throated hummingbirds. She also enjoyed watching songbirds at her backyard bird feeders - cardinals and chickadees were favorites - and she enjoyed Volksmarching in both San Antonio and Rockport. She loved music - some favorites were the Pachelbel Canon, A Music Box Christmas, James Galway flute music, and the Andrews Sisters-Danny Kaye version of “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”. She had a good singing voice, and sang in a number of choirs throughout her life. She also played the autoharp, and wrote an English translation of the song “Jerusalem of Gold” that she was quite proud of.

Margery followed Herb across the country and beyond, while he was on active duty in the Air Force. She had the opportunity to visit Greece, Egypt and Lebanon during the early years of her marriage. Margery and Herb lived in a number of US states - Louisiana, Missouri, California, Virginia and Texas - and also in Canada and Turkey. They retired together in Rockport, Texas.

Margery attended Tenafly High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, and earned a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Queens College. She married Herb Wessell in 1962.

Margery had a long career as a Speech-Language Pathologist, and taught in a number of inner-city schools. She loved children and found her work as a speech teacher very rewarding. She was an active member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) for many years.

Margery was born on March 12, 1940 in Tenafly, New Jersey, to William and Ruth Hayes. As a child she helped tend her father’s garden and loved climbing its apple tree to gather apples, but hated having to eat extra asparagus that could not be pawned off on the neighbors. As an adult she claimed to have a “brown thumb” where gardening was concerned and loved looking at flowers, but not growing them herself. She always retained her hatred of eating asparagus. In her youth she participated in a number of local theatrical productions, was a dedicated pen pal, and was also a Drum Majorette and could twirl a flaming baton.