Marguerite Andrews Ketchum

May 13, 1924 -

May 7, 2024

Marguerite Andrews Ketchum was born in Denison, Texas, on May 13, 1924. Her parents left Texas for California during the Great Depression with Marguerite in the backseat of her parent's old car. She met her husband-to-be, "Ketch" Ketchum, on a rainy night when he knocked on her parent's door. She was 17 and he 18 years old. It was a school night for Marguerite, but her parents let her go to a movie where they held hands.

The couple soon married on Aug. 29, 1942, at her parent's Baptist church in Lynwood, Calif. They were married for 82 years. After their honeymoon, the couple rented a small house on Coronado Island, San Diego.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, Marguerite got a wartime job near her parent's home and Ketch went through pilot training in the Army Air Corps earning a commission as a second lieutenant.

After World War II, they had three children: Steven, Craig and Nancy. She was a loving mother and took care of the children and homes around the world during their military career. Arriving in Alaska after the 1964 earthquake, Ketch and Marguerite established Ketchum Air Service at Lake Hood in the 1960s.

Marguerite frequently took care of all of their six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren with a great deal of love.

She overcame a debilitating virus in the 1970s, the affect of the swine flu vaccine, developing the Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Marguerite passed at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. She was buried on her 100th birthday with all her family gathered and will be remembered fondly for her motto, "Growing old ain't for sissies."