Marjorie Lee Gould

Marjorie “Marj” Gould passed away in her home in Stanley, Kan. and joined with her Lord on Feb. 2, 2018. Marj was born in Newton, Kan. on Feb 11, 1931 to Abram Abel and Edna Koop Wiebe. She later moved with her mother to the Wiebe’s farm home near Dalhart, Texas. She started school in Dalhart, but it wasn’t long before the conditions in the dust bowl and her younger sister’s health convinced her parents to move to Wichita, Kan. where she remained until she married.

In 1951 she met a young Air Force Lieutenant on a blind date that changed her life forever. About a month after that date, Lt Arthur R. “Bob” Gould began Air Force pilot training in Florida. But their romance continued via letters and phone calls. Marj and Bob were engaged during Christmas 1951. On March 31, 1952 they were married in Wichita and promptly moved to Big Spring, Texas where Bob completed pilot training. Later that year she accompanied Bob to his new assignment at Shaw AFB, Sumter, S.C. for advanced pilot training.

It wasn’t long before Marj and Bob started raising a family. Their first son, Richard Steven was born on Jan 15, 1953 in the Shaw AF Base hospital. About a week later the Goulds drove to Wichita, where Marj set up housekeeping with her parents while Bob left to help fight the war in Korea. After six months, Bob was transferred to a base in Japan and Marj and son Rick took a 17 day cruise to Japan to join her husband.
To keep them occupied in Japan. Marj and Bob traveled the islands and Marj delivered another son, Alan, at a local military hospital. Marj joined the local Officer’s Wives Club and joined with other wives to present song and dance shows at the
Officer’s Club.

In Aug 1956, the Gould family cruised back to San Francisco and drove back to Shaw AFB in South Carolina for another three-year tour. She delivered a baby, Saundra Elaine in the base hospital. Most of her time was spent raising a family.

There was another move in the fall of 1959 to Okinawa. With plenty of good household help available, Marj found a job as office manager for a Japanese construction firm. Marj and Bob took a 30-day trip through Southeast Asia and India. After 3-1/2 years they returned to Shaw AFB.

Marj has always commented that she reared the children because Bob was never home. He was always on a military exercise. She was very active with the Officer’s wives club serving in many positions including club president. The final military moves took them to England and Germany before Bob retired from the Air Force. While in England Marj commuted by train to London (an experience in itself) to take a course in pattern drafting to improve her skills in dressmaking.

Civilian life saw Marj living first in Farmingdale, NJ and finally in Overland Park, Kan. Here she worked as a real-estate agent for more than 40 years with Lauterbach and Co., J.D. Reece Realtors and ReeceNichols Realtors.

Music was always an important part of her life. After graduating from high school, she studied music for a year at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan. She joined church choirs wherever we lived. She was an alto singing in choirs of the Overland Park Christian Church and Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. She accompanied the Church of the Resurrection traditional choir on two trips to Europe where she sang in famous churches in Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague plus many trips to churches throughout the United States. She has performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City and Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center in Kansas City.

Her final accomplishment, one she was most proud of and that will be long remembered, was establishing a successful sewing center at the Hope Faith Ministries facility in Kansas City, Mo. There she gathered sewing machines, assistants and lots of fabric to teach the homeless how to sew. As a result, several of the homeless have been able to get jobs and make themselves self-sufficient.

Marj felt like she had an interesting life. She’s lived in five states in the US and visited all the other states. She and Bob have visited 35 countries and lived in five of them.
Marj is survived by her husband of 65 years, Bob Gould of the home, a son Richard and wife Charlene of Overland Park, a son, Alan of Santa Barbara, Calif., a daughter Saundra Breiby and husband Donald of Olathe, a sister, Carolyn Gilmore of Newberg, Ore., her five grandchildren, Jennifer Greszler (Kevin) of Austin, Texas, Megan Hardy (David) of Overland Park, Leanne Breiby and Sarah Breiby of Kansas City, Mo., and Kaitlin Gould of Overland Park plus six great grandchildren: Aimee and Evelyn Greszler and Matti, Micah, Meggie and Merrick Hardy plus numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 AM, Friday, Feb. 9 at the Wesley Covenant Chapel, 13720 Roe Ave, Leawood, KS 66224. A reception will be held following the service at the same location. Instead of flowers, donations to the following charity is recommended: http://www.hopefaithministries.org/donate/.