Marjorie Erma Withrow Theroux was born March 7, 1918 in East Lansing. MI to John and Ella Withrow. Her parents divorced when Marjorie was 4 and her mother was granted custody. A few years later, though, John sued for sole custody himself and won -- while at the same time setting in motion Ella's confinement to a mental hospital for the rest of her life. Ella died in 1939, never again allowed to see her daughter, who graduated from Central Michigan University that year with a teaching degree. Marjorie taught kindergarden in Bay City, Jackson and Royal Oak in Michigan plus Cleveland, Ohio between 1939 and when her first child, David, was born in 1949. (Just before David was born, his parents were living in Lakewood, Ohio.) Marjorie remained a homemaker for the next 20 years, although she did substitute teach elementary and junior high classes plus art in New York, Connecticut, California and Illinois between 1960 and 1979. She was a member of the Women's Club of Wilmette, the singing North Shore Harmonizers, the Commonwealth Club of California and the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. Among her other awards, that latter group named Marjorie their "Girl of the Year" in 1964.

Marjorie was a skilled artist who always strove to spark creative "out of the box" thinking in her own children (which also included Gary and Linda) and her students. Politically active, especially in her later years, Marjorie was a tireless fighter for causes which today form the basis for the Tea Party: limited government, lower taxes, individual liberty and personal responsibility. She stood 5'7" and weighed 118 pounds.

Marjorie married the love of her life, Paul Richard Theroux, in 1947 and was still deeply in love with him 40 years later when cancer claimed her life.

As Marjorie lay dying, her younger son, Gary, blurted out, "I don't know what I'd be without you." Marjorie laughed and replied, "You wouldn't be without me." And then she was gone. .