Margaret Joan Buxton

Margaret "Maggie" Joan Buxton, 83, of Rogue River passed away January 17, 2010 at her home. A graveside service will be held Monday, 11:00 AM at Woodville Cemetery in Rogue River. A celebration of her live will follow at 12:00 Noon at Hope Presbyterian Church, 515 Broadway, Rogue River. Contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to Smile Train, PO Box 96231, Washington, DC 20090-6231 or www.smiletrain.org Margaret began life in Sidney, Montana on December 2nd 1926 as the first daughter of parents Colly and Nora Gorsage. That was the first of her great adventures in that the family had to leave the ranch two weeks earlier so they could get to Sidney by crossing the Yellowstone River while it was still frozen. Margaret said her mother took sick on the trip and Margaret was born the next morning. It was 52 degrees below zero. When the family finished growing she had two sisters Lora and June and two brothers Jim and Mike. As the family grew they lived in a number of different cities, going where the work was, Aberdeen, WA from 1923-24, Lake Quinault, WA 1924-1925 and back to the ranch in Montana in 1925. 1935 found them in Ft. Peck, Montana where her father was a fireman. At that time the largest earthen dam in the world there in Ft. Peck so they stayed until 1937. In 1937 they moved to Placerville, Idaho where her father worked many jobs to make a living, including panning for gold on his gold claim. After Placerville the family lived in Walla Walla, WA for a year and then Pasco, WA for 1 邽 years; East Wenatchee WA 2 邽 years; Orondo, WA 3 years and in Portland, Oregon from 1957 on. Margaret married Richard “Dick” Buxton on August 28, 1950 in Seattle, WA and they headed to Chicago where Dick was to attend electronic school for two years and Margaret was to work for Texaco, Company. At the end of that period they returned to Seattle where she became a homemaker and mother with the birth of her two sons Wesley and Martin. At the start of the space program the family moved to Huntsville, Alabama where Dick worked on the Saturn Program for the Boeing Company. Margaret was involved in garden programs and shows and was a “Gray Lady” (School Nurse) for grade school. Having some time on her hands she decided to take up scuba diving and of course she passed the tests and Dick and the boys did the same. The result was many years of an interesting sport in various parts of the globe. At Margaret’s suggestion they moved to Mexico when they retired. The enjoyed good diving and snorkeling there. After nine years they returned to the States where they bought a cabin at Hyatt Lake. They enjoyed it until the excessive winter snows convinced them to move to Rogue River. She was a member of Hope Presbyterian Church of Rogue River. She enjoyed reading, gardening, scuba diving, square dancing and bird watching. In addition to her husband survivors include two sons, Wesley Buxton of Bothell, WA and Martin Buxton of Winfield, IA; sister Lora Galbraith of Wenatchee, WA; brother Michael Gorsage of Molalla, OR; three grandchildren and three great grandchildren