W Margaret Houck

A number of you have wondered what the “W” stood for in my name. My personal favorite was “Wonderful,” and we should leave it at that…actually, it is Winona.

She passed away on October 29th, 2020. She was born to Jim and Winona Harrison who have both predeceased her.

She exhibited the most pride in her children; Stan, Jim and Lisa. Stan predeceased her on June 10,2010. She was also predeceased by both her parents and her brother Jim Harrison. Stan’s death was very devastating to her. Her grandchildren Tyler, Chris Houck, Ashli Clark, Kelsi McCallister, and James Foster. And all her great grandchildren brought joy into her life; Ian, Hailey, Emma and Ophelia.

The early years of her life was moving—Missouri to Montana to Parker Arizona. She had a father that was the Chief Inspector of Earth-filled dames. She introduced him as the “Dame Inspector.” Actually, he was a welder, and he was her biggest mentor in her life.

She finally settled in Beaverton OR attending Beaverton High school. She went on to the University of Oregon where she graduated cum laude at U of O. She served with pride as a member of the facility the Dean of Women. She was also homecoming queen, the sweetheart of Sigma Chi along with being captain of the rally squad for 2 years, and secretary of the student body. At the time she decided to also try for Mensa, and she was successful. She maintained the MENSA membership for 60 years. She later become director of cooperative work experience for Chemeketa Community College. At Chemeketa she later held temporary president after the death of the current president. She declined the permanent position to care for her 3 teenagers. Later she become a member of a group that wanted to lead the college after the next permanent president resigned.

Also, she loved to play tennis. Midge earned the title of victor at the Western Open tennis tournament. She later enjoyed playing golf at Illahae country club and later in Hawaii.

In her later years, she was appointed by then President of the U.S Gerald Ford to represent eleven western states, taking on the topic “How to get credit toward graduation through work experience.” She served for four years on his council.

She started Real Estate 100 in 1981 where she successfully pushed it to the first real estate company in the “Independent world of real estate companies.”

Through Midge’s years in Salem, she was active in community services. She hosted many teas and social gatherings in her home. She was a member and officer in the Assistance League of Salem. With the association of her sorority, she was a member of Pan Hellenic both in Salem and her winter home in Palm Springs, CA. Her spirit and activities lead to her contributions to KSLM as a talk show hostess know as “Conversations with Midge Houck.” She was successful in trading this time as hostess for TV and radio time for her company, Real Estate 100.

In lieu of flowers, Midge requests that you donate in her name at the Shriners hospital for Children.
https://donate.lovetotherescue.org