By HDN Staff
HARLEM Marie Birdwell Tolbert Schaefer, 84, died Jan. 18, 2002, at her residence in Harlem due to natural causes.
Funeral services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Harlem High School gymnasium with burial following in the Harlem Cemetery.
Marie was born in Harlem to James and Christina (Rutherford) Birdwell on April 26, 1917. She was raised in Harlem and graduated from Harlem High School in 1935.
Marie married Loren Tolbert on Oct. 11, 1935, in Wallace, Idaho. He died Feb. 10, 1941, and she married Hank Schaefer on June 13, 1941, in Great Falls. He died July 19, 1992.
Marie was a member of the Harlem VFW Auxiliary and was a past state president. She served on the Montana Seed Show committee for many years. She worked for the Harlem School District until her retirement after 35 years.
Marie was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers; one sister; a daughter, Peggy Waugh; and a son, Kenneth Schaefer.
Survivors include sons James Tolbert and his wife, Betty, of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Robert Tolbert and his wife, Christina, of Kalispell; daughters, Myrna Nicholson and her husband, John, of Shelby and Jeanie Phillips and her husband, Don, of Whitefish; daughter-in-law, Alva Stewart of Havre; son-in-law, Jack Waugh of Polson; 17 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be sent to one's choice.
Arrangements are by Edwards Funeral Home in Chinook.
