Margaret Rumpf

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obit-Margaret-Rumpf-1Margaret Rumpf, formerly of Pagosa Springs, was born on Jan. 29, 1923, in Camp Lewis, Wash., to Capt. Henry B. Shepherd and Evelyn B. Shepherd. She was the second of six children.

As a teenager, she enjoyed life in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor. Then she moved to San Antonio, Texas, which is where she graduated from Jefferson High School.

She met and later married Darrell R. Rumpf in Orange, Texas, on Oct. 19, 1941. Two children came along, Darrell, Jr. and Carryn, in the next few years.

But, life as they knew it changed when Darrell was drafted by the Army. After a few stateside assignments (which included O.C.S.), Darrell was sent to the Philippines and then the family met back up in Tokyo, Japan. During the time in Japan, Margaret and the children stayed and Darrell went to South Korea when the war broke out. He returned to Japan and, after three years total time, the family moved back stateside. After two more stateside assignments, the family was off to Munich and eventually Mainz, Germany. Margaret thrived as an Army wife. The traveling and uprooting did not faze her at all. Returning to the U.S., there were four more assignments (five different houses) and Darrell once again left the family for a second tour of duty in South Korea. Margaret and the children (both then in high school) went to live in Lakewood, Wash., to be around her parents for the next year and half. In 1962, Darrell returned to stateside and he, Margaret and Carryn moved to Virginia to his next assignment with the Navy. Darrell, Jr., their son, stayed in Washington at the college he was attending. In 1965, after daughter Carryn married Roger Dyer, Margaret and Darrell traveled to Izmir, Turkey, for his next two years of assignment.

Shortly after returning to the states, Darrell retired from the Army and they went into a new phase of their life with a new career as a country club manager. This gave Margaret a different kind of social life that they both thrived on. A master’s degree for Darrell came next (with another move) and, after graduation, they were on the move again, first to teaching and then he enjoyed 10-plus years as the house manager of the Dallas Country Club. Margaret’s lifestyle of playing golf and her involvement with so many organizations would have exhausted the weak, but not her. Then Darrell retired and they moved to San Antonio to be around family and many friends from his military career who had done the same.

In June of 2008, sometime after the passing of her beloved husband, Darrell, their son, a number of other family members, and way too many of her friends, Margaret made a new life for herself in Pagosa Springs, where her daughter, Carryn, and her son-in-law, Roger, were enjoying their early years of retirement from their careers. Moving to Colorado also gave her such wonderful time closer to two of her grandchildren and three of her great-granddaughters (all living in the Denver area). Most of her new friends in Pagosa would recall her saying, “I miss San Antonio,” and always talking of her San Antonio Spurs.

In October of 2013, she made the decision that it was time to move to an assisted living facility in the Denver area, where she could enjoy her day-to-day life without the mundane things. So, she and Pica (her little rescue dog) moved into a lovely facility. She was close to her Denver families and enjoyed it when her Pagosa family and friends came to visit.

Margaret developed pulmonary failure and passed away on Feb. 22, 2015, in a Littleton hospital. She was surrounded by her family and had a short visit with her little dog. Update on Pica: A wonderful lady who worked at the assisted living facility and enjoyed Pica, requested that she have her. So, with a loving family and five new doggie friends, Pica is very much enjoying her new life.

Margaret was laid to rest on March 4, with her husband, Darrell, in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Carryn and Roger Dyer; four grandchildren and two of their spouses; seven great-grandchildren; nephews and nieces and their families. Margaret was the last of six children.

A memorial service in her honor will be performed at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Pagosa Springs at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. A reception will follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made to either St. Patrick’s Memorial Fund or the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs.