Spokane County WA Archives Obituaries.....Bozarth, Margaret Virginia June 12, 2004
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Danica Love danicabrown@hotmail.com April 2, 2008, 4:17 am

SpokesmanReview.com 22 July 2004

Much of the youthful memories Margaret Bozarth's 10 children had rested inside 
a two-story home on Pines Road and Sixth Avenue, a piece of property vastly 
changed since the early 1950s, like most of Spokane Valley.

It was there that Bozarth woke her eldest children in the early morning hours, 
rousting them out of bed to aid in her greatest passion. "She always had a 
garden," said Spokane resident Teri Reed, one of Bozarth's children. "She was 
an expert gardener." Tending to vegetables and fruit was just one of the many 
hobbies enjoyed by Bozarth, who died June 12 from congestive heart failure 
complications. The 91-year-old also enjoyed sewing, reading, church 
activities, card games, cooking and, of course, canning and refrigerating the 
garden pickings.

Bozarth was born in Wardner, Idaho, on Jan. 21, 1913. As a youth, she moved to 
Cheney, where she graduated from high school. Soon, she met a man named 
William George Bozarth at a grange dance in the Rockford-Fairfield area, and 
they wed April 5, 1933. Margaret Faire Bozarth was a homemaker, taking on a 
great deal of responsibility while her husband worked to support the family on 
the Union Pacific railways. At times, it seemed, Bill Bozarth was away seven 
days of the week. Reed said she sometimes wondered when her mother, who was 
always busy, ever found time to sleep. "She had a very kind of fun 
personality," Reed said. "I don't know how you'd describe it. She was very 
tough on us. I guess she had to be with that many kids."

The Bozarths raised their 10 children throughout the Inland Northwest, as the 
family moved to accommodate Bill Bozarth's job duties. By some stroke of fate, 
each child was born in Spokane at what is now Sacred Heart Medical 
Center.  "She was a hard worker," said Mike Bozarth, one of the middle 
children, who lives on land in Newport where the family vacationed in the 
summers. "She was pregnant on and off for 27 years." The Bozarths – of strong 
Catholic beliefs – first brought into the world a son, Don, in 1933. In the 
years following, the couple had Mike, Pat, Ginny, Maureen, Teri, Becky, Mary 
and Doug, who did not survive his parents. In 1957, Margaret Bozarth gave 
birth to her last child, Roberta. "Dad was gone a lot," Reed recalled. "Seems 
like every time he came home she got pregnant."

As time went on and the children grew up and moved throughout the country, 
Bill and Margaret Bozarth visited often. They traveled coast to coast via the 
railways, and other times they took their camper, which served as home during 
part of their retirement years. Margaret Bozarth kept track of her family at 
all times, sending birthday cards to her grandchildren when those special 
times of year rolled around.

After Bill Bozarth died in 1994 at the age of 83, Margaret became even more 
active in church. As a member of St. Joseph's Church in Otis Orchards, she 
joined a group that celebrated birthdays and traveled. That's where Marie 
Fisher met Margaret Bozarth, and she says the woman somewhat adopted her, 
treating her as though she was family. "We were good friends, although she was 
a lot older than me," Fisher said. Fisher and Margaret Bozarth had dinner 
often, and Fisher would drop by the Orchard Crest Retirement Community to see 
if there was anything she could help with. They frequently played games, which 
Margaret Bozarth fought to win, as family members can attest to. "She kept her 
mind very sharp that way," Reed said. "And she was competitive. She never let 
the grandchildren win. If they won, it was because they beat her."

As age began to catch up with Margaret Bozarth, she acknowledged her fear of 
dying, specifically dying alone. Considering she raised 10 children, who in 
turn raised 30 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren, who could really 
blame her? One of those grandchildren, Amy, knew that Margaret Bozarth didn't 
want to be placed in a "home." Because no one else could, Amy took Margaret 
Bozarth in for the last few months of her long life. Amy was in the middle of 
wedding plans, and five of the Bozarth children – along with other family 
members – were in town the day Margaret Bozarth fell ill for the final time. 
And when Bozarth was taken to Valley Hospital and Medical Center about 4 a.m., 
the on-call doctor at the time happened to be none other than Reed's son, 
Bill. "It was just unusual circumstances," Reed said. "It was almost like God 
planned it."

Margaret Bozarth half seriously asked the family who gathered in her hospital 
room to tell Amy that she was sorry to ruin her wedding reception. The failing 
woman was consoled, and told that she wouldn't be ruining anything because she 
wasn't going to die. As the final drugs kicked in to help with her pain, 
Margaret Bozarth joked that she was being overmedicated, full well knowing 
what was happening. With family members at her side Margaret Bozarth 
died. "She was a character, there's no two ways about it," Reed said. "She was 
loved by so many people."




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