A Tribute to our Mother

Marjorie Virginia May Colburn was born in Detroit on October 19, 1920, the third of four children of Melvin and Susie May. She passed away peacefully at 103 years on January 22, 2024, at her home in Farmington Hills, MI, with support from Hospice of Michigan and the care of her four children.

Marge’s parents grew up on adjacent farms in West Virginia, married and moved for greater opportunities to Detroit. Her father spent his entire career at Ford Motor Company, working first on the Model T assembly, ending his career in a salaried position in Novi. Her mother was a home-maker and proud ‘Avon Lady’ who with her husband focused on raising their family in Hazel Park, encouraging their children to pursue higher education, learn a musical instrument, and engage in social and community activities.

Marjorie encountered several losses early. Her eldest sibling, Geraldine was lost to the Spanish Flu in 1919. Her talented but sensitive sister Pauline enlisted in the women’s Coast Guard SPARS division in WWII, suffered a breakdown during basic training, and spent her remaining years in VA hospital care. Her brother Harold enlisted in the 82nd Airborne Division and lost his life in the D-DAY invasion in France in 1944.

At age 24, Marge became the survivor of her siblings. She dedicated herself to caring for her parents, found the love of her life when she met Scott Colburn at a college dance, and raised her own family of four: Elizabeth, Sarah, William and Mary. To survive and move past such early sadness, Mom was determined to live her life to the fullest, with a positive outlook, contagious energy, a vibrant spirit, a winning smile, and a devotion beyond measure to those she loved.

Mom enjoyed sports, playing baseball and joining her high school basketball team. As a teenager she found a lifelong passion for all kinds of music, learning to play the steel and Hawaiian guitars with a sweet alto voice, performing often at engagements and on the local radio station with her musically talented brother and sister. She plunged into social life at Michigan Normal College (Eastern Michigan) and followed her dream of becoming a schoolteacher. She fell in love with the profession and took great pride in nurturing her 4th and 6th grade students’ talents and abilities.

In another era she might have built a career in education. Instead, she chose to raise a family and partnered with her husband in his budding career as a renowned ballroom dance instructor, square dance caller and later as a co-founder of what is today Scott Colburn’s Boots and Western Wear store in Livonia. Marge and Scott were devoted and graceful partners in dance and in life. In her children she instilled a respect for individuality and equality, a passion for learning and creativity, a dedication to open-mindedness and consideration of others, and a commitment to the values of love, kindness and an appreciation for life.

And Mom was just so much fun to be around! She had an infectious giggle and expressed pure delight and excitement at the smallest gift or slightest gesture. It was easy to make her happy and a profound joy to be in her company. Our friends became her friends, whom she treated like sons and daughters.

Mom was always ready to experience new places and meet new people, and always up for an adventure, a celebration, or a gathering of family and friends. She loved parades, the State Fair, holidays and Christmastime, concerts and listening to all kinds of music, the glow of candles, the sight of sunflowers, the scent of pine trees, sunsets on Green Lake at our Interlochen cottage and day trips up north, reading her multiple newspapers, watching her children grow and develop, dancing with her husband, traveling with friends, documenting every moment with her ever-present camera, and having a good cup of coffee with toast and maple butter every single morning. Mom was a loyal Detroiter and Democrat and an unwavering Tigers fan. She was devoted to Farmington Hills, her home of 53 years, and totally committed to her friends, her family and her husband.

Marge was an exemplar of forgiveness, a practitioner of kindness, an advocate of fairness and diversity,  and a proponent of joy. She confessed to sometimes just being silly! She was a beam of light to everyone, whether a lifelong friend or someone she just met on the street. Even in the most difficult of times, including the past year of her steep decline, she counted her blessings daily, thanked everyone for their care, and expressed gratitude for her long life, usually in rhyming verse and a spontaneous song.

We, her children, thank every one of you; her nieces and nephews, friends and neighbors, for your years of friendship and devotion to Marge, Margie, Marjorie – our Mom. Thank you for your abiding love and care for her. We are comforted by knowing that she lives on in us all, and no doubt if she could be here right now she would sing:

I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. Marge loves you!

– William Colburn, 2/2/24

Marjorie was the beloved wife of the late Scott for 59 years. Loving mother of Elizabeth, Sarah, William and Mary. Beloved Aunt and Great Aunt to the Gibbs, McClelland, Kimmel, Brehm and Albrecht families, and cherished friend and neighbor to so many, young and old. 

Visitation for Mrs. Colburn will be held on Thursday, February 1st, from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. She will lie in state on Friday, February 2nd, at 10:00 a.m., until time of her Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m., at Nardin Park United Methodist Church, 29887 W. 11 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. There will be a light luncheon offered at the church following Mrs. Colburn's funeral service. Mrs. Colburn's Funeral Service will be live streamed at the following link: 

Live Stream - Funeral Service for Marjorie Colburn

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to Hospice of Michigan or Nardin Park United Methodist Church.