Introducing The Class of 2018: Marjorie “Marge” Rita (Rawhouser) Elliott

Marjorie “Marge” Rita (Rawhouser) Elliott
Nov. 29, 1920–May 19, 2017
The paths we walk in life and those who teach and shape us on our journey remain in our memories long after they have passed on.
Marge Elliott was born at home on the Canyon Springs Prairie, Four Corners, Wyo. She had four siblings and they attended country school on the prairie. To attend Newcastle High School in town, Marge worked for her room and board for her Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Lee Bettis. She graduated from NHS in 1938. Marge attended Black Hills Teachers College for one year and obtained her teaching certificate.
Marge’s lifelong passion was teaching, and the next 44 years of her life were spent doing what she loved — being a teacher. Her first teaching assignment was at the Boyd Country School on the prairie where she earned $70 a month teaching eight months for District No. 5. After five years of teaching rural school she taught in town at the “school on the hill.”
Marge married Eugene Elliott at age 24, on Jan. 1, 1944, and they were married for 54 years until Gene’s passing in 1997. The couple had three children, Terry, Judy, and Kim. Marge also had a special bond with her niece, Becky, and considered her another daughter.
Marge’s next teaching assignment was at Gertrude Burns Elementary in Newcastle. In 1962, she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from BHTC by attending summer school and also through extension and night classes.
Marge spent many summers tutoring and helping students, who needed some extra time grasping concepts, achieve success. Her reward system of banana split parties became a hit, and each summer class numbers grew larger, triggering banana split mania.
The majority of Marge’s teaching career was spent teaching fourth grade side by side with her longtime neighbor and friend, Inez (Elliott) Tysdal. The two teachers both considered the time period during which they taught as the era of the “Golden Age of Teaching,” noting it to be a time when the basics were stressed, children were expected to mind, and parents supported teachers. They shared ideas and helped one another achieve success in their profession, thus shaping many young lives. They loved teaching and both said they couldn’t have had a better job. The duo taught multiple generations of families, and Marge taught three generations of the Dale Cool family.
When retirement came, Marge and Inez found a way to continue supporting education. As part of a retired group of school personnel who met regularly, they began discussing how to generate funds to offer college scholarships for local students interested in the field of education. At their Christmas 1990 gathering in Marge’s home, the idea was born to gather stories from the county’s pioneers, including those with memories of the cyclone that went through Canyon Springs Prairie on July 8, 1922. They would preserve history and bind them into booklets to sell, using the interest from the funds to provide scholarships. Marge and Inez were instrumental in seeing this idea to fruition. Marge did most of the interviewing while Inez put the stories into her computer. The authors of the stories were given a chance to proof them before publication for accuracy. Some members of the group were skeptical the books would sell, so Marge paid $500 to have the first book published. From 1991–1998, four books titled “Fading Memories Afterglow” were published, and two more titled “Early Day Memories” and “Ride a Wagon to the Moon” followed. The books were priced from $4 to $9.
According to an April 2, 1998, News Letter Journal article, Inez recalled that some of the books had to be reprinted, with more than 800 copies of each sold. The first scholarship was $500, and it was raised to $700 the next year, and eventually the award given was upped to $1,000, awarded to either an Upton or Newcastle graduate.
Prior to 2012, the group turned the proceeds from the book series, around $21,000, over to the Weston County School District No. 1 Education Endowment fund for management for continued scholarships. During the 2012 interview Marge and Inez swapped stories from former students they bumped into who fondly recalled their classroom and teaching days.
Marge was dedicated to education and encouraged many young people, as well as her own family, to pursue higher education, and she was deeply proud of her children and grandchildren for achieving their degrees. 
Marge continued to receive cards and letters from former students who credited her for influencing their lives, sharing how they became teachers as well, right up until the time of her death. She treasured each note, hanging them in her room at Mondell Heights. Marge’s family also received notes after her passing. Former student Marty Ertman recalled her fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Elliott, being a wonderful storyteller and even with the passing of 43 years she wrote that she could still hear her voice and see her expressions while reciting “Casey at Bat.” Ertman wrote, “My highlight of the year (besides winning the spelling contest and getting a ‘real’ silver dollar as a prize) was Mrs. Elliott’s rendition of ‘Casey at Bat.’ She had it memorized and would recite it every chance she got. And we loved it. She was able to breathe so much life into each and every word. We would all sit at the edge of our seats as if we, too, were in the crowd anxiously awaiting the Mighty Casey. Her voice would crescendo to mimic the noise of the crowd and drop to a whisper to build the thrill of moment. With each recital, I just knew Casey would hit that dang ball out of the park. I am still waiting…”
Marge’s memorial funds were designated by her family to the Retired School Personnel fund for future scholarship awards.
Inez and Marge were fortunate to live long lives and see how the small seed that the Retired School Personnel group planted more than 25 years ago has helped many college students achieve their dreams and still continues to do so. The lifelong passion and dedication to their profession, as well as their legacy and part in the “Fading Memories Afterglow” book series which continues to shape young minds with an interest in education, has earned both Inez and Marge a place in Weston County history, and induction into the Newcastle High School Hall of Fame.