Obituary of Margaret Wyand

Margaret Alison Knox Wyand, age70, was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 5, 1942 to David & Dorothy Knox. She died on April 14, 2013, at home, after a long brave struggle with Pulmonary Fibrosis. Margie grew up in Huntington Woods, a suburb of Detroit, and attended the local elementary school and Berkley High School in the community and graduated in 1961. Four years later she graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. degree in Dietetics. Margie then served a post-graduate internship in Dietetics at Peter Bent Bringham Hospital in Boston, Mass. She moved to Denver, Colo., in 1969 and served as a Dietician with the city & county of Denver and later at Swedish Hospital, Engle- wood, Colorado. Margie joined the Central Presbyterian Church of Denver and sang in the church choir. It was there that she met the love of her life, Martin Wyand. After only ten days, she told her girlfriend that she was going to marry him. Her friend said, "oh no, he's a con- firmed bachelor." Margie's response was, "We'll see!" Margie & Marty enjoyed singing in the church choir and attending musical & sporting events in the Denver area. They were active in the church's, "Supper Club", a social group for young singles. Martin proposed to her on April 14, 1974, an Easter Sunday, and they were married on May 26,1974. They took a honeymoon train trip to the World's Fair at Spokane, Washington, return- Ing to Denver just in time for singing in the Washington Park church choir. They then bought a house in Aurora, Colo.,which they used as a base for exploring the Western U.S. Twenty-three years ago, she lovingly supported her husband's desire to return to his home town in central Penna. They sold their home in Aurora, Colo. and moved to State College the summer of 1990. Since then they have enjoyed local town & gown activities, centered on music, sports, and travel. Her musical activities have centered on the S.C. Choral Society, a classical music group. She served several years as the chorus manager, a demanding job, which she did with care and love. She also was an active member in the S.C. Presbyterian church choir, and she & her husband attended many musical event in town and on campus. Another very very important musical activity in her life was as an active member & leader in "Sweet Adelines, International". She was active and made many, many friends in the Denver , Colo. and Harrisburg, Pa. chapters. In the Denver chapter, she served as a leader and sang a beautiful baritone in the chorus when the chapter won Sweet Adeline's highest honor, the World Championship chorus, twice, in 1981 & 1987. The sports activities mainly involved season tickets to Penn State football & Men & Women's basketball. The travel events included many trips abroad, with special mention of the Wyand's sentimental trip to Germany, featuring a drive in a German rent-a-car up the "Romantic Strassa" a rural route of century-old towns & castles on their 25th wedding anniversary, May 26, 1999. Margie was an avid & expert gardener, looking forward to the 2013 planting season. She started flowers & vegetables from seed and carefully tended them to maturity. She also was very interested in cooking, craft projects, crossword puzzles, and card & board games. She always had time for friends and would lovingly nurture human relationships with friends and acquaintances alike. She was bright, kind, thoughtful, and loving. She enjoyed volunteering at the Mount Nittany Medical Center for many years and had served between 7,000/8,000 hours at the hospital, near the very top of some 700/800 volunteers. She and her husband were soul mates and were both interested in reading, analyzing ideas & philosophy, learning about the world, and, in general, enjoying life to the fullest! Her cheerful and friendly friendship will be sorely missed by all that knew her! Margie is survived by a brother, David & Cecilia Knox of Ypsilanti, Michigan, and a sister, Janet & David Prakken of San Diego, Calif. A private memorial service for the immediate family will be held at the grave site, Grey's cemetery, north of town, at the convenience of the family. Financial gifts in Margie's memory may be made to the State College Choral Society (www.scchoralsociety.org - cashed/support) or Sweet Adelines, International (www.sweetadelineintl.org - cashed/support). Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.