Marjorie Lee Hammer was born on 9 August 1929 in Emporia, Lyon Co., KS; daughter of Reuben Ernest and Beatrice Jane (Roe) Hammer of Emporia, Kansas. She married
Philip Henry Beam son of
Henry Bridgeman Beam and
Ruth Adeline Kirk, on 10 April 1951 in Emporia, Lyon Co. (probably), KS; Marjorie remarried to Ralph Warren Anderson on 8 APR 1966 at San Francisco, California, and was divorced from him in 1975. Marjorie Lee Hammer and
Philip Henry Beam were divorced before April 1966. She died on 1 February 2019 in Dallas, Collin Co., TX,
Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):
Marjorie Lee Anderson
August 9, 1929 - February 1, 2019
Marjorie (Marge) L. Anderson, 89, was born on August 9th, 1929 in Emporia, Kansas to Jane (Tipton) (sic) and Reuben Hammer. Marjorie loved her childhood in Emporia as a "country kid"; riding her beloved horse, Babe, helping her parents with their farm, working summers at the Children's YMCA Summer Camp and even one summer taking a string of seven horses down to a new Family YMCA Camp in Branson, Missouri, where she found her darling dog, Ticker.
Marge attended school in Emporia and then accepted a scholarship to Emporia State University to play the cello. After earning her B.A. in French, she married Philip Beam. Soon after, Marge answered an ad in the KC Star for language majors and was hired as a female code breaker by the Armed Forces Security Agency in Arlington, VA. This agency would later become the NSA. The couple moved to Washington DC and Phil enlisted in the Army and entered Officer's Candidate School in Ft. Belvour, VA. When Phil was deployed to Itazuke Air Force Base in Japan, housing on base was scarce, so Phil rented one wing of a Japanese family's home in Fukuoka so that Marge was able to join him. Marge loved her time in Japan. After his service they moved to Berkeley, California. During their marriage, the couple traveled, took long camping trips to the national parks and both Phil and Marge raced their MG in the Laguna Seca road races, one of the thrills of her life. Although their marriage did not last, many of the stories that Marge wrote about and told her family and friends late into her life were of those adventurous days with Phil.
Marge returned to Berkeley and earned her teaching certificate at Cal. She taught Kindergarten in Emeryville, CA and made many lifelong friends. She also met and married Ralph Anderson and as they were not able to have children of their own, adopted their daughter, Karen, in Berkeley in 1968. In 1972 they moved to the midwest to be closer to Marge's family and settled in Kansas City for Ralph's work as a Civil Engineer and also so that Marge could finish her Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling from University of Missouri KC. The couple divorced in 1975 and Marge began a decade-long career as a Psychotherapist and Case Worker working with adolescent young women at The Florence Crittenton Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This work was the true passion of her life. After Marge's daughter graduated and moved out of state, Marge left "Crit" and relocated to Lawrence, Kansas, spending her next decade at The Bert Nash Mental Health Center working with out-patient adolescents in a classroom and counseling environment.
In 1995, Marge retired and moved to the New York City area to live with her daughter's family and help take care of her first grandchild. She found new adventures in the Northeast, taking her grandson on weekly trips into Manhattan, exploring photography, writing and enjoying retired life. When the family relocated to Dallas in 2001, she followed. Marge spent the last 18 years of her life being a grandmother to her three grandchildren, taking classes through Collin County Community College SAIL program, writing short stories, the memoir of her life and living every day grateful for the wonderful life she lived.
Friends have described Marge as a singular, amazing person; a thankful, generous and kind soul who was a positive influence and made their lives richer for having known her. She is survived by her daughter, Karen; son-in-law, Bob; and her three grandchildren: Zeev, Sophia and Ben. Marge was a member of, and donated her body to, the UT Southwestern Willed Body Program, continuing her lifelong passion for teaching.
Marjorie Lee Hammer lived in 1957 in Berkeley, Alameda Co., CA. She lived in 1966 in Oakland, Alameda Co., CA.