Iva Marjorie Kephart, 91

Iva Marjorie Kephart, 91, passed away peacefully Thursday, July 11, 2013, in Helena. 

She was born Aug. 25, 1921, in Falls City, Texas, to Elmo J. and Iva B. Schulz, and was known as Marjorie for most of her life.  

Marjorie attended Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, Texas, from 1940 to 1941. The family moved to Roswell, N.M., in the early 1940s where her father worked in the physical plant services of Roswell Army Air Field. 

Marjorie was a clerk at Roswell Army Air Field during World War II where she met Lester H. Kephart, who was serving as a maintenance specialist on B-17 and B-29 aircraft. They were married July 26, 1944, in Santa Fe, N.M. Marjorie and Lester witnessed the explosion of the Trinity atomic bomb in 1945 while they were driving home from a trip to Las Cruses, N.M.  

They moved to Tucson, Ariz., after the war where Lester worked in manual arts therapy at the Veterans Administration Hospital. Marjorie enrolled in courses at the University of Arizona during that time. She received a novice radio operator's license in November 1952 with the call sign of WN7-STW. 

Beginning in the late 1950s, the family made frequent trips to Montana's Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park. Lester and Marjorie acquired property inside Glacier Park near Huckleberry Mountain, and in 1965 they purchased 80 acres in the Mountain Brook community 15 miles east of Kalispell. The family permanently moved to their Mountain Brook home in August 1969. 

Marjorie was a homemaker nearly all of her life, but also sold Shaklee products during the 1960s and ‘70s. She was active in the Disabled American Veterans auxiliary during the 1970s and 80s. Marjorie lived in Mountain Brook until 1998 and then moved to Helena. She resided at Rocky Mountain Care Center in Helena from 2005 until her death.

Marjorie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Lester (Feb. 2, 1972); her brother, Elmo R. Schulz (killed in action during World War II Dec. 20, 1944); and her sister, Mary. 

She is survived by her sister, Mildred Allen, of Campo, Calif.; daughter, Susan Harralson, of Quitman, Ark.; son, Kenneth, and Diane Kephart, of Billings; son, Kevin, and Lucy Kephart, of Brookings, S.D.; and daughter, Leslie, and Jay Pierson, of Havre. Marjorie has eight grandchildren, Sara and Jason Kephart (parents Kenneth and Diane); Josephine, Natalie, Jonathan, and Abigail Kephart (parents Kevin and Lucy); and Jill and Nikki Pierson (parents Jay and Leslie).

A family gathering to celebrate Marjorie’s life will be held this autumn when her ashes will be interred at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell. 

Condolences and memories can be shared by visit www.retzfuneralhome.com or by writing to Leslie Pierson, 700 17th St., Havre, MT 59501 (email llprsn@optimum.net).