Margaret (Coen) Hale

Margaret Josephine Hale (nee Coen) called Margie by all her many friends and family, passed away on June 23 in Napa, CA, surrounded by her children and Russ, her loving husband of 68 years. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 AM, Saturday, August 11, 2018 at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Creston, Iowa. Father Ken Halbur, Jr., celebrant. Burial will be at “home” in Creston at the Calvary Cemetery. Memorials may be made in Margarets honor to the Continuum Care Hospice Foundation http://continuumhospice.com/about-foundation/ and The Salvation Army of Napa . On line condolences may be left at www.pearsonfuneralhomes.com
Margie was born in Creston Iowa in July, 1929, the youngest child of Harry and Margaret Coen. Her siblings were Ed, Harriet, and John. Their father owned a funeral home and furniture store in town.
Margie attended the local primary schools and Creston High School, where she was very active in drama and the Girls Athletic Association. After graduation she briefly attended St. Teresa’s College, before transferring to the University of Nebraska after her freshman year.
Her first day as a student at the University of Nebraska, Margie met returning serviceman Russ Hale, who was there on the GI Bill. Russ grew up on a farm in the small town of Hardy, NE. They married in Creston, IA, on August 27, 1949, and these two small town kids immediately began an adventure that would take them to over 75 countries.
Following a year in Cleveland, where Russ had started work for Lincoln Electric, their first four children were born in Chicago: Stephen (‘51), Lisa (‘53), Kevin (‘54), and Chris (‘56). Russ then transferred to Schenectady NY, where Nancy was born in 1958. Margie then moved the brood to Needham, MA, Russ’s next assignment, where Shelly (‘59), and EC (‘63) joined the family.
Throughout it all, Margie and Russ always tried to bring the family back to Creston for a summer holiday with their ever expanding number of cousins. Swimming and barbecue at McKinley Park were the rewards for each exhausting trip
A few years in Detroit and Cleveland were followed by a 6-year posting in Sydney, Australia. To Margie fell the responsibility for selling the house, packing their belongings, buying a new home and moving to a strange environment. Margie was brilliant at assimilating, and at each new home she quickly made new friendships which would last a lifetime; in nearly 89 years, she never made an enemy,
A superb cook, she teamed with Lisa in 1980 to open A La Carte, a highly successful gourmet food store.
After living and working in Colorado Springs, CO, Racine WI, Guilford, CN, and Wausau, WI, Russ retired and Marco Island, FL became their full time home for the next idyllic fifteen years. During that time, they accepted months long volunteer assignments in Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey and Egypt as part of the International Executive Service Corps.
In 2002, she moved a final time to Napa, CA, where Margie could enjoy her expanding family of grandchildren and great grandchildren. But domestic and overseas travel remained a major activity.
Margie always had a ready smile, a kind word, and a loving heart. Everyone she met was captivated by her. Russ still remembers what she was wearing when she walked into her first college Spanish class. Margie was a wonderful wife, a devoted mother, and a fantastic cook. She loved Pinot Noir, pelicans and John Irving novels. Margie will be sorely missed by Russ, her 7 children, 16 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and a wealth of friends from around the world, whose lives have been touched by her love.