Marjorie Ann Felder
October 10, 1945 – February 27, 2021

Marjorie Ann Felder passed away surrounded by her family on February 27th, 2021. Her journey through life was long and fiercely fought, and she left having lived to her fullest. Her journey began on October 10th, 1945 in Oakland, California, living her early life in the emerging scene built around love and harmony, but also the labor rights movement. She once met Cesar Chavez at a relatives house. After the birth of her two children, Norman and Tami, she stretched her adventurous legs and moved to Washington State, settling down more than 40 years ago in the Tri-Cities where she raised her children and eventually retired from secretarial work at the City of Richland. In the process she met and married her loving husband Chuck, probably one of the best decisions of their lives, depending on the day you asked them. Marjorie was lucky enough to see her family grow to have two grandsons, Eric and Chase, who she cared for, protected, and did laundry for ferociously. (She actually enjoyed doing laundry). Her house was not only open to her friends and family in need, but also needy furry friends. The animal rescue organizations became very familiar with Marjorie through her rescuing efforts, fostering, and transporting at risk animals to better family situations. Her other interests included outdoor plants, clothing, collecting knick-knacks, wall hangings, and Christmas ornaments. Though extremely private and “happily introverted” she affected many lives.

Marjorie served as an inspiration to families and patients struggling with potentially terminal illness, surviving 28 years after her first cancer diagnosis and outliving her estimated life expectancy by about 26 years. In a Spring of 2020 newsletter piece by the Tri-Cities Cancer Center profiling the last third of her life, she attributed her longevity to a strong drive to learn as many things and see as many places as possible. Chuck stood beside her through it all, taking her to all of her appointments, running her to various specialists around the state, and being by her side as she came home for last few days of rest. Many thanks to the teams of medical professionals at Kadlec, Trios, and Tri-Cities Cancer Center who treated her through the years.

She was preceded in death by her father Donald Petersen, mother Josephine Vegas, sister Jackie Vegas, and brother Raymond Vegas.

She is survived by her son Norman Gibson, daughter Tami Gibson, grandsons Eric Noble and Chase Higbee, and husband Charles. Her stubbornness extended not only to her fight to stay here and see as much of the world as she could, but also to her strong convictions she held about family, friends, the state of the world, and perhaps most fervently of all, her preferred brand of soft drink. Lets just say for God’s sake we all hope that heaven is a Pepsi establishment and not a Coca-Cola one.