Marguerite Snow Scovel

COTTAGE GROVE - Marguerite Snow Scovel, age 100, of Cottage Grove, passed away on Saturday, May 22, 2021. On Jan. 7, 1921, a beautiful baby girl arrived on Planet Earth in the care of Lena and William Raymond Cook. Marguerite Snow Cook’s 100-year journey began in the upper northeast corner of South Dakota in the little town of Langford, where her Dad was the dentist and his brother, “Uncle Doctor” to Marguerite, was the physician for the 510 souls living there. She was preceded in birth by a brother she was not to meet, Marshall Emerson Cook, born in 1919, passed away in his sixth month, a victim of influenza. Her sister, Mary Louise, joined the family in 1924. Marguerite was an exemplary student throughout her 12 years in the Langford Public Schools, and began taking piano lessons while in elementary school. “Cookie,” as she was known by family and friends, apparently went through the line two or three times when St. Peter was handing out The Gift of Music to certain special souls packing up for their Earth Life. By the time she finished her undergraduate degree in Music Education at the University of South Dakota, she was performing as a pianist at the artist level and was staff accompanist. Cookie’s Mom used a great big old wood burning cast iron stove to prepare their meals and used the hand pump next to the sink to have enough water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Dentist Dad could be seen shoveling coal into the furnace in the basement, and on those freezing cold South Dakota mornings, Mary Lou and Cookie would be seen hovering over the big 4x4 grate in the exact middle of the downstairs floor, right above the furnace while the morning heat washed over them. Marguerite enrolled at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln as a music major and transferred to the University of South Dakota the following fall. While finishing her Music Education degree there, she met Loren Palmer, a law student, and married him in 1943. Their first born arrived in 1945 in Newport News, Va., where Loren was about to finish his stint in the U.S. Army. They drove back to South Dakota in Loren’s 1937 Chevrolet sedan, where he finished law school. 1947 was a year of great joy and great tragedy. Ray Emerson joined the Palmer family in October, and in December, Marguerite’s beloved sister, Mary Louise, was the victim of a drunk driver. Five years later, her third baby was given the honor of carrying on her sister’s name. Ray and “Lon” now had a little sister, Mary Lou. As Marguerite’s family grew, her husband’s health deteriorated to the extent that he became an invalid, leaving Marguerite to being a single parent for three young children and a caretaker for an incapacitated adult. That daily burden would have capsized many a mother. But not Marguerite. She began teaching at the Pierre (South Dakota) Indian School in the mid-1950s, a boarding school for reservation children. When her position was eliminated in the early 60s, she was transferred to a reservation school an hour away in the middle of nowhere down a lightly traveled two-lane road, rarely missing a day of school during the many brutal South Dakota winters that were her commute. Our mother was made of stern stuff. And just because all of that wasn’t enough, she served as Minister of Music at the First Methodist Church in Pierre, S.D., for many, many years, rehearsing the choir every Thursday night and conducting every Sunday performance. She was also the church organist and astonished everyone with her dancing feet on the bass pedals. She was a treasure in her church, loved and admired by all for her sparkling and cheerful personality, a true one-of-a-kind. She successfully ushered all three of her children into their adult lives, Loren Jr. to become a music educator, Ray to become a 777 pilot for United, and Mary Lou to be a homemaker. Years after Loren Sr. passed away, Marguerite discovered her soul mate, Bruce Scovel. They had 14 wonderful and loving years together, living several years in Hill City, S.D. in the Black Hills, and when they had finally had their “last South Dakota winter,” they repaired to Naples, Fla. Bruce and Marguerite enjoyed life to the fullest, making many friends whose company they thoroughly enjoyed. Bruce’s passing was a blow to everyone he touched with his kindness. As the hurricane seasons seemingly grew in intensity, Marguerite’s family grew increasingly alarmed at her living alone in Florida. Ray and his wife, Jill, purchased a condo for her five minutes from their Wisconsin home, which became her new address in the summer of 2000. Ray devoted the next seventeen years to her care and comfort. Tough ole South Dakota bird that she was, she lived independently throughout her 80s, relying more and more on Ray’s assistance in her early to mid-90s. Mary Lou and Loren Jr. moved in with their Mom in August of 2017, fulfilling the family’s promise to her that she would never be placed in a nursing home. Her “posse” of friends in the Arrowwood Glenn development provided Mom a tremendous emotional and loving support for over 20 years. Marguerite is survived by her three children, Loren Vincent Palmer Jr., Ray Emerson Palmer and Mary Lou Neuharth; two granddaughters and five great-grandchildren on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island; two granddaughters and five great-grandchildren in Omaha, Neb.; a grandson and two great-grandchildren in Orlando, Fla.; and two grandchildren and one great-grandson nearby in Wisconsin. Those who wish to honor Mom may send a donation to the Music Ministry at her First United Methodist Church, 117 North Central, Pierre, SD 57501-0579. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive (608) 221-5420