Marjorie Ann Stohler

Beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Marjorie “Margie” Ann Stohler passed away in Omaha, Nebraska early on Nov. 30 after a long battle with dementia. She was 99.

Marjorie was an identical twin. She and her sister Marguerite, who predeceased her, were born in Murdo, South Dakota to Matilda “Tilly” Schmidt (née Herber) on September 16, 1926. Their father Frank died in a car accident before their birth. The twins also had an older brother, Gerald, who died in an accident as a toddler. Tilly moved from Nebraska to central South Dakota after her husband’s death to be with her extended family upon the baby’s arrival. Little did she know there would be two!

The twins spoke only German at home until age 5 when they were sent to St. Martin’s Academy, a Catholic boarding school in Sturgis, South Dakota. Tilly was one of 13 children, and one of her sisters was a nun at the school. The girls received free tuition in exchange for their labor. Marjorie rarely spoke about the experience except to say they got a dollar for the two of them at the beginning of the school year and had to make it last. Marguerite shared memories of staying behind to make the beds while their classmates went to the movies.

Though the girls experienced more hardship in their childhood than many do in their entire lives, they had enough joie de vivre to play pranks at school. They liked to switch places in class to fool the nuns. When they got scarlet fever the first sister to recover would get in bed so the other could get out of the infirmary.

Marjorie met Carl “Jack” Wampler at a dance at the Seven Mile Corner, a popular restaurant and gathering place west of Kadoka, South Dakota, when she was 20 years old, and they married a year later. Jack had just come home after service in the European theatre of World War II. She and Jack had three children together: Annette, Mary Ann and Carl. The family lived in Philip, South Dakota where they started the Wampler Lumber Company in 1953. Marjorie was the bookkeeper and sometimes unloaded lumber trucks and bags of cement. She said later in life that she’d had dreams of being a chemist but never expressed bitterness about the way things turned out.

Jack was 16 years older than his wife and in poor health in his final years. Marjorie served as his caretaker until his death in 1981. She’d go on to marry twice more: first to Jim Ingram and then to Meredith Stohler, both of whom predeceased her.

It was in her third marriage that Marjorie was finally able to have the wedding she longed for. Jack was divorced from his first wife and unable to marry in the Roman Catholic Church, and Jim kept a different faith. Meredith, a kind man who was adored by his step– children and grandchildren, converted to Catholicism to give Margie her dream wedding.

Daughters Annette and Mary Ann remember their mother as warm and loving. Marjorie spent long evenings reviewing homework and reading with Carl. She was a born caretaker and nursed all three husbands through illness at the end of their lives.

At least one Philip resident harbored an unrequited crush on Marjorie. Daughter Mary Ann recalls unsigned valentines and birthday cards coming to the house. Marjorie was far too loyal and humble to give them a second thought. When asked why so many people were in love with her mother, Mary Ann said, “Because she was beautiful and nice to everyone.”

In her long life, Marjorie experienced more loss than many could bear. She is preceded in death by husbands Jack Wampler, Jim Ingram and Meredith Stohler; son Carl Wampler; brother Gerald Schmidt; and sisters Marguerite Delorie (John) and Bernadette Borchers.

She is survived by sister Karen Borchers; daughters Mary Ann Wampler (Phil Bierman) and Annette Tulenko (Al); granddaughters Jennifer Wray, Marianne Kuczynski (Mark), twins Madison Bierman and Courtney Bierman; and great-granddaughter Kayla Porter.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 3:00 PM at Fountain View Senior Living, 5710 S 108th St, Omaha.

A graveside service at the Masonic Cemetery in Philip will be held in June 2026.

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