Marge grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but spent many summers in Grand Haven where her father built a cottage on the shores of Lake Michigan. She attended Hope College, majoring in biology, but because it was difficult for women to enter the field of medicine at that time, she went into teaching instead. In her later years, she became active in the League of Women Voters and was appointed to the Planning Commission in 1970. Not long after, she became the first woman elected to the City Council. In 1981, she began serving the first of two consecutive terms as the first woman mayor of Grand Haven. She held office during the construction of the Boardwalk and the christening of USCG Cutter Escanaba III. In this interview, Marge recalls many details about her childhood, her teaching and her political careers.
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