Elverna Marjorie Deal Midgett

Elverna Marjorie (Deal) Midgett went to her Heavenly Home on October 8, 2009 while in Hospice Care, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Margie, as she was known to her friends, Verna, as her family called her, was born in Riviera Beach on August 22, 1922, the second of four children. Verna's parents had immigrated to the United States from Long Island, Bahamas, when her father, along with many others, came to Florida to help in the construction of Henry Flagler's Celestial Railroad, later called the Florida East Coast Railway. She remembered well, the terror of the 1928 hurricane and the pains of being a child during the Great Depression. She knew South Florida during a time in which few people are still able to recall: traveling to Miami (then called Lemon City) with her mother via mail boat to purchase clothes and household items; walking to the docks in Riviera once a week to pick up the mail; leaving school after the eighth grade to work at Woolworth's Dime Store on Clematis Street. As an eighteen year old, she worked as a nanny, caring for children of the elite of Palm Beach in the 1940's, living in homes where dinner guests included such notables as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Bing Crosby, Frances Langford, Earol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Margie met and married Willard O'Neal Midgett while he was stationed in the Coast Guard at the Jupiter Lighthouse. She experienced the 'blackouts' of World War II, served drinks in the officers' club at Morrison Field (later PBIA), volunteered with the Red Cross at the Breakers Hotel which was renamed Ream General Hospital during the war. She witnessed history in the making as late night trains rumbled towards Homestead and Key West carrying the missiles of October and from her front porch she watched with tears and awe the vapor trails of the first rockets as they carried astronauts into outer space. Margie was a devoted wife and mother for over sixty plus years. She loved fishing and entertaining with her husband, cooking for friends and neighbors, and singing old-time gospel hymns. She is survived by her daughters, Sharon Kramer of Jupiter, Fl and Jill Midgett of Waterford, Ct; granddaughter Tracey M. Duncan, husband Mark and great-grandchildren Rachel and William of Raleigh, NC; granddaughter Jennifer N. Santiago, husband Ricky and great-grandchildren Julia and David of West Palm Beach, Fl; and grandson Bryan O. Kramer who assisted her in her final years, in Jupiter. We express gratitude to Hospice of Palm Beach County who cared for our mother and grandmother as she was released from the grip of Alzheimer's Disease and delivered to our Heavenly Father.