Marga Klara Goff

 Marga Klara Mezger Merritt Goff

Marga Klara Mezger was born August 6, 1932 in Stuttgart Germany to Frida and Wilhelm Mezger. She was the third of 4 siblings: Half-brother Helmüt, Loré, Marga, Elly. They attended the Lutheran Church.

Marga and her mother Frida both enjoyed children so much they planned to have a child spread apart so as one went to school, they would have a baby to enjoy at home.

During WWII 1939-1945 Marga was 6-12 years old and these are a couple of stories she shared:

When bombings of Stuttgart began in 1940 young children from the city were periodically sent to farming communities to stay for their protection; you never knew if they were going to be a nice home or not, Marga experienced both. The first home she was at didn't feed her well and made her sleep in a cold barn loft and she developed pneumonia. The second home "was like heaven"  the woman,who had no children of her own became “like a second mother” to her.

Elly approx. 4-5 yrs. of age like to go to the schoolground across the street from the complex where they lived. The warnings sounded for another air raid. Marga was sent out to find Elly.  As Marga was running to the school a plane started shooting bullets at her.  She dashed behind the stone school wall and found Elly eventually making it back home. The bullets were still visible on the stone wall that surrounded the school the last time Marga and Turk visited Germany.

At the end of the war in 1945 the French army occupied Stuttgart for a month. Marga’s mother dressed her in braids and children’s clothes to make her appear younger. Her sister and several girls in their teens where hidden in a false ceiling in the attic to keep them safe.  Food was fed (mainly boiled potato’s) through a small hole. Once when the soldiers appeared without warning. Loré was hidden on the outside balcony where the shoes were kept crouched behind a curtain.

When US forces came and occupied Stuttgart, they offered food to the families and chocolate treats to children. The German people were wary. Marga remembered one GI sampling the chocolate so that they would know it wasn’t poisoned.

Despite the war,  year-round schooling continued as much as possible. Marga completed high school at age 15 and knew German, English and some French.

Her dream was to one day move to the US or to France.

She was very good with math and started working as a teller at Deutche Bank where her father also worked.

Marga and her sisters loved to dance. Elly remembers one night they were at the local Dance Hall and they stayed so long the streetcars were no longer running and they had to walk home. Marga told me her skirts would almost fall off by the end of the night from dancing so hard.

Bernard Jack was Marga’s her first love.   He promised to marry Marga and they had a child Sylvia in 1950.  Bernard returned to the US and Marga stayed in Germany with Sylvia.

Years later one fall evening Marga and her friend Sonja went to the Oktoberfest, they were followed by Don Merritt and his GI buddy, who didn’t realize these German girls could understand English.  They had a lot of fun spending time exploring the festivities. One ride was a rowboat, Don decided to hop in the boat with Marga, little did they know they had chosen a leaky boat. By the time the ride was ended they were both very wet.  They enjoyed each other’s company and spent the remainder of the night drying off in a tent talking and getting to know each other. 

Don's tour of duty ended and he eventually had to come back to the US.  He sent money for Marga to come and marry him. 

Marga purchased some beautiful china for her new home and gingerly packed them in her suitcases between her clothes.  Not one dish broke.

In Nov. Don drove across the US to meet Marga in New York.  They stopped to visit a cousin of Marga’s in Buffalo, NY.  Nov 25,1955 Don and Marga were married, in Napoleon, Ohio.

They lived with Don’s parents in Grandview Wa. while he tried to find work. Unsuccessful, he decided to go back to college, and they moved to College Place WA.  He worked as an orderly while also going to school.  After a year getting settled Don filed to adopt Sylvia. At the age of 6 Sylvia flew to the US accompanied by the airlines Stewardesses. 

In March 1958, Marga started labor. Don was worried Marga and the baby needed nourishment, so they stopped at the Ice Burg to pick up a milkshake on the way to the hospital.  Later that night Debbie was born.  Don decided he needed to work more to provide for his growing family. So he quit school and the family moved to Pendleton, Oregon in 1960.

Don was working at Harris Pine Mills working with long boards, one came off the belt and slammed him against the wall giving him a large hematoma to his upper thigh. He soon found another job working for Mel Winters selling Volkswagens, his first car sales job.    Marga began working in the Albertson’s Bakery department within walking distance from their house. 

June 5, 1961 Marga became a US Citizen and learned to drive.

Life moved on and Marga sold Avon saving money for trips to visit family in Germany and household necessities.

Jan 1970, she became a grandmother at age 36 with her first Grandson Gordon.  Looking through nursery window admiring the babies she saw one baby in the back corner.  She knew all the nurses from selling them Avon and asked why is that baby in the corner? (This is back in the day when HIPPA wasn’t an issue) Dr Easton, also our family physician, had delivered this baby.  He started talking with Marga to see if she knew of a good home.  Marga always wanted another baby so she came home and discussed it with Don. 

Debbie will always remember the night they came into her room and asked if she would mind having a baby sister. Debbie sat up in bed and said Yes, can we go get her now?  The next morning Marga rushed down to JC Penny’s and had all the salesclerks running around gathering the baby items she would need.  Sylvia came and stayed a few days with us, and we had two babies in the house to cuddle with love.

Gordon spent a couple years at a young age living with us and thought of Marga as a second mom and Lisa as a sister. (Lisa is 17 hours older than Gordon)

Don and Marga's divorce was finalized in 1981

Marga was determined to keep her and Lisa in as stable a home as possible and took in Pauline to care for 24/7, babysat many of Pendleton children during the day, sold and delivered Avon in the evenings with Lisa. There are many Avon sales awards she has obtained through the years from pins to figurines and bowls.

There were many hard times for Marga and Lisa, but they managed. One Christmas the Pendleton church decided to show up at the house Christmas Eve and brought Marga and Lisa each a Christmas gift for under the tree. They also brought food and games and stayed singing songs all evening. Truly a Christmas Blessing.

There were many pursuers for Marga, and Lisa shared her unbiased opinion with her.  One tall dark and handsome man was Therman Goff also known as Turk.  They dated off and on and then decided to get more serious after Lisa placed a call to Turk and handed the phone back to Marga so they would talk to each other. 

April 17, 1986 Turk and Marga were married here in the Pendleton Church. Marga was very excited because she had always wanted a Church wedding.  Turk on the other hand was very nervous.  He was told the small wedding needed to be moved to the main sanctuary because too many people wanted to attend the wedding.

Approximately 20 years ago we noticed Marga was doing some peculiar things.  Looking back, I suppose we were in denial but as the years progressed it became evident that Marga, like her sister Loré was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. She was one of the best cooks, managed and saved money in the worst of times, made most all our clothes and kept a spotless house. One day Marga announced that she would no longer be cooking anymore, and she didn’t from that day forward.   We took her to a Neurologist to see if anything could be done and she was already in advanced stages of the disease.  Turk was determined to care for her in at home and did so until Jan 2018 when we took her to Ashley Manor.

She remained there with Turk coming to visit her for 6-7 hours every single day. We were planning to have a big Birthday Celebration for her this last August, but then Covid struck in March and Turk was no longer permitted to see her due to healthcare restrictions.  She quit eating and lost a significant amount of weight with increased mental deterioration. Thankfully, with the care of the new management at Ashely Manor the initiation of Hospice care and a little persuasion Turk was allowed to resume visiting with her along with her daughters when able.  Turk was able to hold her hand as she took her last breath.

She is survived by her Husband Turk; one living sibling Elly; her 3 daughters (their spouses)

Sylvia Bright, Debra (David) Russell, Lisa (Kevin) Case

Seven grandchildren(Gordon Bright lives here in Pendleton)

Six great- grandchildren

Here are some of our fond memories of mom:

Hot chocolate and cookies after sledding

Delicious homemade meals and bread

Bed was made before you could return to your room from the bathroom in the morning

Clothes were always picked up and put away

Daily dusting and floor cleaning

Playing with the Doll house Marga played with as a child 

On Christmas Eve we would always have a light dinner with lots of cookies, peanut butter and chocolate  fudge.  Before opening presents we were to sing Christmas songs as when she was a child sharing her childhood memories of Christmas.

She made most of our clothes but once or twice a year we would make a trip to Portland to visit relatives and do alittle shopping. 

She had a special place in her heart for children and managed to care for several at a time and yet never once did she need to put any of her things away  The children just knew those were Marga’s prettys and left them alone.  She was alittle embaressed when the children cried as their parents arrived to take them home. Yet she was also happy they liked to be with her.

Even at Ashley Manor she was always making sure everyone was included.  She developed a friendship with one women who never spoke to anyone until Marga came and though we could not understand what she was saying, Marga managed to get her to utter sounds, smile back at her and hold her hand.

Due to Covid we will not be having a memorial service for Marga. Please feel free to share pictures and or comments of your memories with us by logging into https:www.mykeeper.com/MargaGoff/