Marge Whitmore, 49-Year Resident, Nurse, Skier, International Walker

Marge Whitmore (Margaret Elizabeth), a resident of Pacific Palisades since 1964, passed away July 25 after five weeks in St. John’s Hospital, just two weeks short of her 81st birthday.
Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, not too far from the famous racetrack, Marge attended Catholic school in Saratoga Springs and upon graduation went to Albany to complete her education. She graduated from St. Peter’s Hospital as a RN and subsequently moved to Santa Monica to work in the operating room of St. John’s Hospital in 1954.
While at school in Saratoga Springs, Marge learned to ski and once in Santa Monica she rode the Union Pacific ski (“party”) train to Sun Valley. After two years of Sun Valley, she graduated to the powder of Alta, Utah (which she skied for 50 years), with side trips to Kitzbuhel and Zermatt.
Marge loved the outdoors, playing volleyball in the Marina at the aptly named “Mother’s Beach” and tennis at Rustic Canyon and the Riviera. She was passionate about hiking/walking in the Sierras, Cascades, San Juan’s, Adirondacks and Santa Monica Mountains and could be seen daily in her later years trudging up Temescal Canyon.
The highlights of Marge’s walks were the classic Wainwright English Coast to Coast from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, pub to pub, and the North Coast of Devon-Cornwall, watching the Atlantic rolling in. Also the Pembroke Coast in the West of Wales, looking towards Ireland and the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands.
Her most recent big walk was Zermatt and Grindelwald in Switzerland which was superb, not to forget Helicopter Hiking in British Columbia where you are above the treeline and up on the ridges in no time or effort with great views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers.
Every evening in the Palisades, Marge would walk to the Mt. Holyoke Point (at Via de las Olas) to watch the RC gliders and on windless days the powered planes doing their maneuvers and combat, finishing the day’s activities by putting the sun to bed at Sunset with a green flash on a clear day. She was the matriarch of the middle bench overlooking the ocean and would politely brook no disobedience as to her right to ask anyone sitting in “her” seat to kindly remove themselves.
Amazingly, with all of her adventures, in her spare time Marge was married for 53 years to Clive and had three children, Shaun, Michele and Kim, together with five grandchildren, Jeannie, Katie, Danielle, Tyler and Billie.
She also found time to work two days a week in the St. John’s Hospital operating room with Dr. Giuliano, whom she loved and admired together with all of her nursing family. She could not wait to go to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and did not actually consider it “work.”
Marge was a loving wife and mother, and a devout member of Corpus Christi Church who attended Mass daily and was strong in her faith.
Her funeral will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at Corpus Christi Church.