COLUMBIANA, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Margie Mae Lewis, 83, of Columbiana, Ohio went to be with her Lord on Sunday, May 8, 2023.
Margie was born on September 26, 1939, to the late John and Florence (Stagg) Felix, in Youngstown, Ohio.
At age 13, while attending East High in Youngstown, she became an upholsterer’s apprentice. She would become the Lead Upholsterer at a number of shops in the Youngstown area.
Margie moved to Austintown, Ohio and later to East Palestine Ohio, where she started her own upholstery business, from her basement, while raising eight kids.
It was upon moving to East Palestine, that she became a member of the First Church of Christ. She dedicated her life in service of her Savior. She served as head of the Church’s Hospitality Committee, Dorcas Circle President and later, as an attendant for the Caring Hands food pantry program. She taught arts and crafts to the church’s youth, both during Sunday evening services as well as several summer VBS programs and she sang in the choir. Margie was both friend and mentor to the younger women of the church, as well as offering cleaning services, care and companionship to the elderly women, before she became one, herself.
It was also while living in East Palestine that she would meet her late husband, Robert, her “Cowboy”, as she called him. Together they moved across the country to his home state of California and back to Ohio, finally settling in Columbiana, until his passing, just after their 20th anniversary, in 2007.
She closed her upholstery business, in the mid 1980s, when she gained an opportunity to work as an upholsterer at the Kenmar Division of Ethan Allen, until it closed in 1993. The steady dayshift as an upholsterer allowed her to use the evenings to become the top sales representative in the NE Ohio region for Home Interiors and Avon. When Kenmar closed, not wanting to remain idle for long, she went back to school, earning first, her GED and then a bookkeeping certification from the CCCTC. With this certification she worked several temp jobs in California and Idaho. She then worked as a bookkeeper for Farmers National Bank for 17 years, before retiring the first time.
She worked jobs for the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County, the County Mental Health Center, as well as the County Parks and Recreation Dept. All through the Ohio Senior Aide program, prior to her second attempt at retiring.
She worked as a Visiting Angel providing home care and comfort for the elderly and homebound, until her third and final retirement in 2016.
Besides her parents and husband, Margie is preceded in death by all of her siblings: a brother, Jackie Felix and three sisters, Shirley Douvis, Sharlene Easterday and Elaine Patrick, as well as two of her sons, Kenneth Bigley, Jr. and Keith Bigley.
She is survived by three children, Elaine (Smiley) Richards of Columbiana, Ohio, Judy (Rocky) Morris of Meridian, Idaho and Martin “Buck” El Sass of Columbiana, Ohio. Of course, she would also include all of their close friends, as she treated them as if they were her own, good or bad, as well as many grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends on Friday, May 12, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the First Church of Christ, 20 W Martin Streer, East Palestine, OH 44413. A special service will follow, at 7:00 p.m., for those who wish to attend.
Cards for the family may be sent to the First Church of Christ.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Caring Hands Food Pantry, at the church.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Wm Nicholas Funeral Home & Cremation Services LLC. 614 Warren Avenue, Niles, OH 44446.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Margie Mae Lewis, please visit our floral store.
A television tribute will air Thursday, May 11 at the following approximate times: 7:10 a.m. on FOX, 12:22 p.m. on WKBN, 5:08 p.m. on MyYTV and 7:27 p.m. on WYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing.
