Margaret Hepler

Margaret Berniece Rife was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, October 17, 1924, the youngest of three children. Following her mother's untimely death when Margaret was just eleven years old, her sister Dorothy helped their father raise Margaret and their brother Clifford. July 3, 1943, Margaret married Elah Hepler, and together they shared over 65 years of their lives together – first in Englewood, Colorado; then on their farm east of Fort Collins; and later in Seattle, Washington; Carpenter, Wyoming; Mesa, Arizona; and finally back home for Margaret, in Fort Collins, Colorado. During all these years, Margaret served her family faithfully, and while living in Wyoming, Margaret also shared her gentle, servant nature as a nurses' aide at the V.A. and Memorial Hospitals in Cheyenne, Wyoming – a career which Margaret both enjoyed and spoke of proudly. Margaret trusted Christ as her personal Savior and lived a life devoted to Him. She was a faithful Bible reader and student of the Scriptures, and enjoyed playing hymns at the organ in her living room. While living in Fort Collins, she and Elah drove many Sundays to Denver to attend Haven Baptist Church, where Elah's brother, Ovid, pastored. Margaret was welcomed into Heaven from her home in Fort Collins, this past Thanksgiving Day – November 27, 2008, following complications from recent cancer surgery. She is survived by her husband, Elah; two sons, Larry of Indio, California, and Jim of Mesa, Arizona; two grand-daughters, Pam Schimitis and Jyl Booth, also of Mesa, Arizona; four great-grandchildren; her sister, Dorothy Glassburn of Cheyenne, Wyoming; her brother, Clifford Rife of Ely, Nevada; a host of other family and friends; and her beloved kitty, Mikey – who along with all of us – will miss her very much.