Marjorie Doreen Harrington, 91, died Aug. 20 at River Bend Assisted Living in Great Bend. Born Jan. 10, 1921 in London, England, she was the daughter of Herbert and Victoria (Forman) Hudspith.
After attending Harrow Art School and Kilburn Polytechnical College, where she actively sought to be a women’s clothing designer, she married the Reverend Norman McCallum in 1939. After World War II, the McCallums immigrated to the United States with their daughter, Brenda, and spent several years serving churches in Iowa, Rhode Island, Wyoming and Illinois, before coming to Kansas. They later divorced and she married the Reverend Roy W. Harrington on July 4, 1980 in Great Bend. He died March 13, 1996.
Marge, as she was nicknamed, became a stringer for the Great Bend Tribune which led to full-time employment as Women’s Editor. Prior to coming to Kansas, Marge had written and published several short stories in a British Magazine for women, and had been a reporter for the Woonsocket (R.I.) Call. She also produced crossword puzzles for Dell Magazine. While raising her family as a single parent, Marge began taking wedding photographs which led to the opening of her studio, Marge’s Photography, Inc. Among the many jobs she had, writing brought her the greatest satisfaction. While working full-time at the Tribune, she began a weekly column “It Seems to Me.” Later, after her marriage, she wrote biographical pieces about people who had helped Barton County get on the map. This weekly series was called “Autographs of Barton County” and was eventually published in two books. The column was later begun again, continuing until the well-read pieces stopped in 2004.
Mrs. Harrington was a Great Bend resident since 1965, eventually moving into River Bend Assisted Living where she continued producing word search puzzles for the monthly newsletter.
She had been a member of Central Baptist Church and First Congregational United Church of Christ, and was also a member of the Kansas Authors Club. Marge was a lay preacher and preached in a number of area churches, her love of church work becoming an integral part of her life.
Survivors include one son, Peter McCallum of Topeka; two daughters, Brenda Kelley and her husband Thomas of Grand Junction, Colo. and Rosalind Neeland and her husband Dennis of Great Bend; four grandchildren, Suzanne Smith and her husband Chris, of Denver, Colo., Maj. Sean Kelley of Dover, Del., Hillary Emerson and her husband Aaron, of Lawrence, and Graham Neeland of Kansas City; three great-grandchildren, Sarah Smith, Joshua Smith, and Elaine Emerson; one step-son, Gerald Harrington of Hays; three step-daughters, Joy Carpenter of Dallas, Texas, Dr. Joan Harrington of Great Bend and Norma Hodges of Kelseyville, Calif. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Stanley Hudspith and Herbert Hudspith; and one sister, Winifred Rowse, all of England.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Central Baptist Church in Great Bend with Pastor John Grummon and the Reverend Dr. Joan Harrington officiating. Inurnment will be at the Great Bend Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday at Bryant Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Golden Belt Home Health and Hospice or the Arthritis Foundation, in care of the funeral home. Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.bryantfh.net.

Funeral arrangements provided by
Bryant Funeral Home**
1425 Patton Road
Great Bend, KS 67530
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Aug. 22, 2012