Margaret Mary Schaeffer

Margaret, or “Marge” as she was better known, was born on February 13, 1930 in Baltimore, MD, to Henry and Margaret Adelman, the second oldest among four siblings, and she spent her childhood and adolescence in the Patterson Park area of the city. After graduating from high school and a stint as an administrative assistant, she was married to Jack Schaeffer in 1953 and moved with him to Columbia, South Carolina for a few years, then to the Edmondson Heights neighborhood of Baltimore upon returning to Maryland. She lived there as a housewife and mother, raising her five children before moving to Ellicott City in 1968. Five years later, she moved with her husband and children to Barrington, IL, a Chicago suburb, where she enjoyed an active social life that revolved around her children’s school years, the Biltmore Country Club, a new group of Midwestern friends (many of whom became life-long friends of hers), “the Follies,” doubles tennis, and an avid but nail-biting devotion to the Chicago Bulls during their glory years. After the untimely death of her husband, she returned to her native State in 1997 to settle down in Heritage Harbor, Annapolis to be closer to much of her family.

Marge was a skilled bridge player and bowler, who enjoyed a good Scotch and an energetic turn on the dance floor. She loved to travel, loved crabs and beer, crab feasts and crab cakes, card games and Sunday dinners with her family, and weekends with her longtime and devoted companion, Dan Weber. She endured life’s tragedies without complaint (in the same way she endured her own uncomfortable furniture) but she was no fan of bundt cake.

She was caring, strong, secure in who she was, independent late into her life, proud of her children (and especially proud of her grandchildren), and always displayed an irreverent but good-natured humor about life and its foibles which some say she passed on intact to her children and grandchildren. She was an adoring grandmother to her ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren who loved her dearly. Marge was a beautiful woman and an even better personality, full of life, animated conversation, ready laughter and sharp wit, and she will be sorely missed by her large family and friends. But we will also celebrate the many, many years that we had her with us, and a full life that made our own lives more interesting, more meaningful, and a lot more fun. Marge was “with it” right to the end.

Marge is preceded in death by her husband, Jack Schaeffer, and by her brother, Henry Adelman.

She is survived by her sister Mary Ford, brother Charles Adelman, and her five children: Kevin Schaeffer and wife Donna, Kyle Becker and husband Bruce, Brian Schaeffer, Todd Schaeffer and wife Shannon, and Brad Schaeffer and wife Diane. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Brigit Shaffer and husband Bill, Matthew Becker and wife Kelli, Steven Becker and wife Jennifer, Alexandra Schaeffer Prevoznik and husband Chris, Caroline Schaeffer, Patrick Schaeffer, Ryan Schaeffer, Tyler Schaeffer, Brooke Schaeffer, Jonathan Schaeffer, and John Luke Schaeffer, as well as her great-grandchildren: Cassidy Shaffer, Marissa Shaffer, William Shaffer, Mckenna Becker, Rylee Becker, Brennan Becker and Mai Mai Schaeffer.

A visitation service will be held at the John M. Taylor Funeral Home in Annapolis, MD, Friday, February 19, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Marge will be interred on Saturday, February 20, in a private ceremony at 11:00 am at Crestlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Marriottsville, MD.