Margaret M. Cline, 97, of South Bend, died Tuesday evening, September 25, 2018 at Memorial Hospital of South Bend. Mrs. Cline was born Margaret Marcella Spearow on December 18, 1920 in Turkey Creek, Indiana (near Helmer) to Clifford and Ethel R. (Randol) Spearow. The family moved to the Spearow Farm on the Pigeon River in Howe, Indiana as an infant in 1921.
The farm was purchased in 1917 by her grandparents, and remained in her ownership until the present day. She graduated from Springfield Township High School (Mongo) in 1938 and Fort Wayne College of Cosmetology in 1939. She briefly owned and operated Vogue Beauty Salon in LaGrange with her sister following her graduation.
She then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. On February 22, 1943, at First Methodist Church in Kalamazoo, she married Donald G. Cline, whom she met at school in sixth grade. They remained married for 60 years until his death on September 27, 2003.
During World War II, Mrs. Cline lived with her husband while he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. They returned to the Midwest at the war’s conclusion in 1945. From 1946 to 1951, Mrs. Cline lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan where she was variously employed before starting her family.
She moved to South Bend in 1951 and into her present home in February of 1952. In the years of raising her daughters and the decades that followed, Mrs. Cline was active in the Bercliff Neighborhood Association and Garden Club, the Edison School PTA, Welcome Wagon of South Bend, the Speech and Hearing Association, Head Start, the Memorial Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, and the Elks Lodge. She enjoyed gardening, antiquing, interior decorating, spending time at the lake, playing bridge in a group that met for decades, and attending men’s and women’s basketball games at Notre Dame.
She has been a member of First United Methodist Church in Mishawaka since 1956, and was active in the church circle. Beginning in 1969, she and her husband built a lake home at Donnell Lake in Vandalia, Michigan where they entertained their children and grandchildren and were active in activities for the Donnell Lake Conservation Association. Mrs. Cline has owned the home to the present time.
Following Mr. Cline’s death in 2003, Mrs. Cline continued to be involved in supporting the scholarship endowed in his name at the School of Business and Economics at Indiana University South Bend. She is survived by her daughters, Diane (Robert) Myers of Granger and Melanie (Shane) Caldwell of Fishers, grandchildren Brandon Myers of Indianapolis, Meghan Myers (Jacob Bridge) of Lebanon, Ohio, Amy (Jon) Abdnor of Washington, D.C., Ashley Thomas of Indianapolis, Jessica (Jacob) Banitt of Houston Texas, and Erin (Brian) Orr of Naperville, Illinois, great-granddaughter Adelyn Bridge of Lebanon, Ohio, and sister M. Genevieve Helmer of Granger. She was preceded in death by her sister Marjorie Dustin.
Funeral services for Margaret will be held at 10:30 am on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at the First United Methodist Church, 201 E Third St, Mishawaka, IN. Rev. Joyce Kuhn will officiate.
Services will also be held at 2:00 pm Saturday at Mongo United Methodist Church, State Road 3 and County Road 325 N, Mongo, IN with Pastor Jim Bartlett officiating. Private burial will take place at Greenwood Cemetery, LaGrange, IN. The family will receive friends from 6:00 – 8:00 pm Friday, September 28, 2018 in the First United Methodist Church, Mishawaka as well as one hour prior to services on Saturday also at First United Methodist Church, Mishawaka.
Contributions in memory of Margaret M. Cline may be given to the Donald G. Cline Scholarship Fund at I.U.S.B. or to First United Methodist Church, Mishawaka. Online condolences may be left for Margaret’s family at www.
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