A Celebration of Life will be held at Orcas Island Yacht Club facility next to the West Sound Community Hall, Thursday, July 15 at 11 a.m. for Margaret Hadessa Hendron Wahlberg (Margo) who passed peacefully June 3, 2021, in her home on Orcas Island.
Margo was born Oct. 22, 1924, in Granite Falls, Washington to John Alden Hendron and Grace Athena Muirhead Hendron. At nine months old, the family moved to West Seattle where she grew up.
In 1942 a handsome young man walked into her life directly to the piano in the house. Within a few months, Margo married George Wahlberg on Jan. 1, 1943.
Shortly after their marriage, Margo worked at Boeing, riveting inside the wings of aircraft for the war effort. Their first child, Terri, was born in Oct. 1944 after George was called up to the Navy around June 1944 to be stationed in Oklahoma repairing aircraft. He first met his new daughter when she was eight months old after Margo rode the train to Oklahoma to join him.
Not too long after that trip, the War was over, and the family was able to return to George’s home and family in Portland. Once home in Portland, sons Tom, George, Kevin and Karlin were added to the family between 1946-1960. They moved to Lake Oswego in 1955 where they remained until George’s death in January 1966.
After George passed, Tom and Terri were already out of the home, but Margo still had 13, 7 and 5-year-old sons at home. Her older sister’s family and her mother had just been transferred to Hawaii with the Coast Guard, so Margo moved the remaining family to Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii.
Shortly after arriving in Hawaii in 1966, she attended Nursing School to fulfill a childhood dream. When she completed the program, she worked at Castle Memorial Hospital in Kailua for about 12 years.
Also, during this time her daughter, Terri was working for an airline and was able to provide passes for Margo to travel. In 1970 Margo traveled around the world on those passes by herself with her mother watching the young children at home. She continued traveling, no holds barred, throughout her life. Her last trip was in September 2019 just before Covid shut down travel.
Margo left Hawaii in about 1978 to return to the mainland to be closer to her children. She worked as a traveling nurse from 1978 until she retired in 2004 at 80 years of age.
As a child, Margo attended camps on Orcas Island and always dreamed of living there someday. The family would camp on an Aunt’s property or stay with her mother from 1944-1959. Finally, in 1959, George bought the property she died on as a birthday gift for her. From then on, we stayed on our own property camping until Karlin built the cabin in the back around 2000.
In 2004 she was able to put a full house on the property with Karl’s help and she moved in permanently in September 2005. From there, Margo became a very active member of the Senior Community of Orcas Island.
So many members of the Orcas Community contributed to her enjoyment of life right up to the last day. Thank you, Orcas Island for the medical drives to Seattle and Senior Center lunches and activities.
Margo is survived by Terri Crowell, her only daughter, and Tomas Wahlberg (Corvallis, Oregon) and Kevin Wahlberg (Wasilla, Alaska). Sons George and Karl predeceased her. From her six grandchildren, she has 10 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandson surviving. Virginia Mackay (Bothell, Washington) is her only surviving sibling.
Private interment will be held at Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland, OR where she will be buried next to her husband, George Wahlberg. Donations to Orcas Senior Center in her memory would be very much appreciated.
