Senior Spotlight - Margie Rohwer, Thompson Falls

Margie Risbon-Rohwer (pronounced roar, she says) was born April 18, 1928, in Wellfleet, Nebraska. She has lived by herself in Thompson Falls for 31 years since the passing of her husband George. Rohwer said she attended 12 schools in 12 years. Rohwer’s father Gilbert Risbon was born in Pennsylvania but he was a confirmed westerner, she said. He went back to Pennsylvanica twice, then hustled back to the west. Thompson Falls is the only town her father came back to twice. Rohwer was born a year before the great depression. Her father moved his family to Sagle, Idaho. Her dad said he had to follow the jobs. He was a welder and worked in garages and had a truck for many years. Her father said, “If you have a truck you can make a living.” Her father was known as the best welder in the Northwest. “My father always said, ‘Use your head for something besides a hat rack,’” Rohwer recalls.

In the late 1930s, the family moved to Thompson Falls. After a year they were headed to Salmon, Idaho. “When we got there my father turned around and headed back to Thompson Falls. He eventually moved to Salmon with my mom and little brother. My brother still lives there.”

Rohwer recalls when she was 12 or 13, she sang on the radio in Altoona, Pennsylvania. “The song was ‘Springtime in the Rockies.’” That was after she lived in Sagle, Idaho, from 1931 to 1936. Rohwer recalls that the summer of 1938 was a hot one. They lived across the river from town. “We all learned to swim and we picked and sold huckleberries for 75 cents a gallon,” she said.

Rohwer met her husband, George, while living in Colorado as a teenager in 1944 at a drugstore. Rohwer recalls that she first thought he was stuck up, but later realized he was reserved. Years later she was working as a waitress in Aspen at the new ski resort. “My sister Ilene who was two years younger than me was a skater. Mom wanted her to join the Icecapades,” she said. “Dad said no way.” Ilene was 16 and Margie was 18 at the time. “I finished high school at 17,” Rohwer recalled. “Married at 19, on the Fourth of July, 1947. I was working at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. Dad wanted to move from Colorado but wouldn’t let me stay as a single woman.” George had returned to Carbondale, Colorado, when his enlistment was up in 1946. He wanted to move to Thompson Falls where Margie’s family was planning to return. He called Risbon’s bluff and married his daughter.

George built a trailer for them to stay in and hauled it to Thompson Falls. “Later we bought two lots at $30 a lot. Then we bought three more,” she said. The trailer caught fire and was gutted. George rebuilt the trailer where they lived until their house was built on the newly purchased lots from a tax deed sale. Margie lives there still. The home has custom woodwork paneling and a small wood stove in the kitchen. “I didn’t think I would want one in here, but I am glad that George insisted on it,” she said.

George began building their house in 1950. Their first daughter Jennifer was born in July before it was finished. Their second daughter Becky was born in September of 1954, and their third daughter Melanie in November 1958.

Rohwer said she has written down the names of every book she has read since 1997. “I have read over 933 books now.” Over the years Rohwer has had several accomplishments. “I taught sewing classes and tap dancing, and sang in barbershop quartets. I designed clothing and modeled in Missoula. I hated sewing in high school but later I became great at it,” she said. She sewed her daughters’ clothes. Her other hobby is collecting thimbles. “I have about a thousand thimbles,” Rohwer said.

Rohwer worked for 25 years in the treasurer's office as deputy treasurer, starting at age 37. Her major in college was art. “I graduated from high school in 1945, then started college. I went until 1946. I love painting,”

Rohwer joined the Thompson Falls Woman’s Club at age 21. “I’m still a member. Back then we had 68 members. Now we are lucky to get 14 people there,” she remarked, as the longest Montana Woman’s Club member. The club asked Rohwer to donate her paintings for raffle drawings. She has painted landscapes and a lot of portraits.

Rohwer said George’s family was from Austria and Germany. He was sent to war in Germany and Italy. “That was hard on him because he had family over there fighting in the war.”

Rohwer admits that she has never been approached for a date after George died. “I’ve been said to have a good rapport with men but I have never sought them first.”

She was the first woman to get a hole in one at the golf course. “I was 42 when I started golfing, then several years later I got the hole in one. It was a par-three hole.” She hit the ball and wondered, “Where did it go?” She looked and it was in the hole. Rohwer said she always walked the course, never rode in a golf cart. She stopped playing at age 84. “I love golf and have received awards for that sport as well as bowling,” Rohwer added.

Other jobs Rohwer had included waitressing at the Black Bear for 50 cents an hour. “That was in 1947. I was a hard worker and didn’t mind washing dishes on the night shift. I had to hustle. I got a 25-cent raise when I agreed to come back and work the morning shift,” she recalls.

Rohwer reflects on her life and ponders the reason for her good health, “My recipe for longevity is, I never smoked, drank or did drugs. I don’t know who has decided that I should still be here,” she concluded.