Marybelle Rogers Meade, 96, died peacefully with her family at her side, Monday, February 27, 2017. Her local Memorial Service will be held at 1 p.m., at the family’s church, St. Albans Episcopal Church, 1675 Chester Avenue, Sunny Brae, Arcata, CA. 95521. Reverend Eric Duff will officiate. Local musicians, Bob Ebenstein and Sarah Torres, will provide the music, and Smug’s Pizza will provide food for the reception. 

She will be placed with our father at the Presidio in San Francisco, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at 1 p.m. If you are available to attend either service, please feel welcome.

When Ms. Marybelle passed, she knew she was loved and that we will see her again.   

The day I called off from work to stay home with her, she scolded, “Where have you been? You’re supposed to stay here and take care of me.”  

“I’m here now, Mom. I’m not going anywhere,” I told her. 

I turned on some acapella hymns,

The baritone sang, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.” 

“He’s right!” She said knowingly.

During the next hymn, she said in a satisfied manner, “You are taking me home. You are taking me home.”

“It would be an honor, Mom. It would be an honor.”

“We don’t have to explain,”

“No, Mom, we don’t.”

“I’m for that,”

“What?”

“The wiggle waggle.”

It seemed nonsensical at first, because these statements were said with so much time between. But she knew I would understand, she meant,‘You are my daughter, who I have waited for to come here and help me to go home to heaven. Whatever you need to do to stay here with me, then I’m for that.’ 

It was an honor, Ms. Marybelle.  It was an honor.

 

Mrs. Marybelle Rogers Meade, was a musician and an artist. A devoted wife since 1943, even long after dad died in 1984, a dedicated mother of 6, grandmother of 12, Great-Grandmother of 12, President of the Eureka Women’s Club, and a member of the Altar Guild at St. Albans Church in Sunny Brae. And she earned the prestigious “Lifetime Achievement” Award from the Hey Juan Barnstormers’ Arcata Softball League, to name a few of her accolades.  She is survived by 4 of her children, Martha S. Meade, Virginia G. Meade, Robert S. Meade, Anne Meade Hyland and all her grand and great-grand children.

She was the grand-daughter of an industrious, rugged couple that “made the Land Run,” which gave Oklahoma its nickname, ‘The Sooner State.’ Her mother worked as a US Postal worker and her father, from Pennsylvania, worked on the “Oil Rigs” of the OK plains. Her Grandmother and namesake, Maggie Belle Powell Searcy, acting as her midwife retold a favorite story, at the family farm house on that Thanksgiving Day “she took the turkey out of the (wood-fired) oven and put Marybelle in it,” using the bread warmer as an incubator, of sorts.  

The three generations survived the 1929 Depression with seemingly little trauma.  The family farm was not lost, nor the home “in town” at Garber, nor Enid.  Marybelle was afforded elocution and etiquette lessons.  She told many charming stories of her childhood on her grandparent’s farm playing in the chicken pen, watching her Grandmother make soap and mix up biscuits with one hand without measuring any of the ingredients.

Her music skills began as a child singing ‘round their parlor piano with Grandmother Maggie Belle, who reportedly loved the hymn we will sing at the memorial services, “In the Sweet Bye and Bye.” Miss Marybelle continued signing in choirs at school and church and performed solos at many community events throughout her life including, “Over the Rainbow” at Marcella’s wedding in 2009.  

Marybelle’s Grandmother paid for her to study with a private voice teacher beginning in junior high school, who encouraged her to go to Chaffy College in Los Angeles to study Opera. Her first year in college was spent in LA, studying as a Lyric Soprano. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it’s a big deal.  Enough to say, Julie Andrews and Kathleen Battle are vocally Lyric Sopranos. In addition to singing, Miss Marybelle Rogers played the lead drum in the Enid High School Drum Brigade, which was also a big deal. That is the drummer that leads the drum line in front of the marching band at the half-time of football games. 

She met our father, Richard Kidder Meade, who was a native of Arcata and son of Gertrude E. Meade, who was an English teacher at Arcata High School from 1924 until 1959. They met in 1942 while he was stationed in Oklahoma City where Miss Marybelle was earning her degree in Interior Design from Oklahoma State University. 

As the story has been told to us since time began, “it was love at first sight.” Miss Marybelle was his blind date.  Seeing Mr. Meade from across the room, not knowing he was to be her date, dressed in his full-colors, Navy officer dress uniform, complete with officer decor, stated, with all the resolve of a prophet, “there’s the man I’m going to marry.” She had a way of predicting the future like that. We have all marveled at other solemn occasions, like above, in which she made some off-the-shoulder remark that effortlessly, on her part, came true. After WWII, the couple settled in Arcata while dad taught math at Humboldt College, Mom raised my two eldest siblings.

As an artist of “Home and Interior Decor,” she constantly and amazingly transformed our many homes into her latest work of art. From creating her own tailor-made patterns for her latest sewing projects for a complete line of men’s and women’s, girls and boys, clothing to repairing and refinishing furniture, embroidery, watercolor painting, sculpture, and even, basketry, our mother was an artist.

And even more amazing was she taught her children and grandchildren to be the same. It wasn’t a difficult chore. She would call you over to sit next to her and she would explain what she was doing.  We thought this was a normal and common process as it was so simple for her. No curriculum was created. No study guides needed. Pick a project and let’s work on it together. Any problems arise? We can fix those as we go.  

She did have her limits. Not much of a plumber, roof repairer, or car mechanic, however, the same attitude of ‘let’s fix it ourselves’ was handed down to my 3 brothers.   As she put it, “if you want to do something, read a book and learn how.”   Hiring something out was more insulting than optional. 

My children learned to love cooking and art from Grandma Marybelle also. At one session, she let, 4-year-old, Julian, now 31, use cinnamon for flour to make cookies, (hum mm, 1 cup of cinnamon or 2?) Julian went on to cook at several high-end restaurants and developed many recipes still used today. Grandma Marybelle profusely praised Marcella when she used her face makeup to finger-paint the top of the toilet lid. She didn’t clean that lid for a month. Then, she covered the refrigerator with sheet paper and assisted the preschoolers to finger paint adorable, and now framed masterpieces. The sweet little hand prints are wonderful keepsakes.

Because our father worked all over the United States, Ms. Marybelle was able to practice her skills over most of her lifetime. We counted she had moved 38 times with furniture some 30 years ago. She only slowed down recently when her eyesight was negatively affected by a stroke in 2005. Unscathed, she took up projects that didn’t need much vision, like sculpture and basketry, yes, underwater basket weaving.   She made beautiful usable baskets.

But this would be a remiss report if we did not mention her humor. Always first with snappy answers and quippets, Marybelle gave those around her a lot to smile about. Just recently, she said, “My name is too long.”

“Ms. Marybelle? Too long? Well, we use it out of respect as we care for you.  But we could call you… ‘Mom,’ I guess.”

“Oh, yes, that would be much better… Mom… good.”

After finishing her vitamins, crushed, and mixed in unsweetened yogurt, the flavor more bitter than tasteless, and giving her the final-bite cheer, “Yeah, Mom, it tastes terrible, but is so good for you.” 

She said, “I think I’ve swallowed enough advice for now.”

Accommodating and agreeable to the end, I said, “Mom, can you see the purple magnolias blooming on the tree?” Even though she was looking the other direction, she said so sweetly, in a soft whisper, “Aren’t they beautiful?”

She passed without pain, she was not frightened or anxious. She knew God loved her, she was expecting to go home to heaven. She had made peace in every way, to everyone possible. 

I held her hand, kissed her forehead, and told her I loved her a thousand times, which was not nearly enough. — Martha S. Meade, RN

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The obituary above was submitted by Ms. Marybelle’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.