She has a way with fabric – and Wimberley

Volunteers come in all sizes and kinds. Take Marjorie DeHart, for instance. She doesn’t get around as much as she used to, but her volunteer heart makes sure she is still making a difference.

Marjorie’s big talent was sewing, big or small, quilting was her game and she was at the top of it. Examples of her work grace the walls of her home. There are examples of framed artwork of her sewing mastery displayed along with beautiful quilts throughout the house.

She also had an unused fireplace until the snowstorm, then it provided much needed heat. “My son hung blankets in the doorway to keep the heat in,” she said.

“I was born in Kansas City, and I lived there 30 years… I was the oldest by five years, and 14 years older than my last brother. I was in charge of the kids in the country. I took care of everybody. In high school we moved to North Kansas City, a separate city.”

She met her husband Bruce when a former boyfriend gave her phone number to her would-be husband, an unknown stranger at the time. “How did you get my number?” she demanded.

He kept calling and calling. Finally she relented and went to the movies. “Six months later we eloped to Oklahoma City. I sent a telegram to my parents that read, ’Congratulations you have a son.”

Her husband was in insurance and transferred “to Houston for nine years, then St. Louis for three years… Then back to Houston for 29 years,” Marjorie said. There was lots of travel for the couple as he attended a lot of meetings and seminars across the country with her.

Upon retiring, her husband Bruce bought them property, just outside Wimberley. She hadn’t seen the property and was fighting mad about the whole thing including not consulting her. “Don’t get a house built or…”

When she came in from the direction of San Marcos in 2005, it was all over. The flat, ugly, scrubland was soon replaced by the beauty of the Wimberley Valley.

Bruce had been exonerated. They were married 56 years. They had two children, a son and daughter. The name DeHart might be familiar to some as her son was a Wimberley City Marshall.

Her quilting talents began while visiting her sister in Pennsylvania and visiting Amish country. “Lancaster, saw the quilts and wanted to buy one. They were lots of money. I couldn’t spend $,2000. (I thought) I can make my own.”

She practiced and she learned. “I’ve made lots of quilts. Nine quilts for children. Made them for the (Hays-Caldwell) Women’s Center… everybody in the family. I can’t do it anymore due to arthritis.” She had been quilting for over 40 years.

Volunteering first for the Village Library, she was there ten years. Then she worked at the Thrift Store, made cookies for her church’s funerals, the bank, EMS and others. Now, at this advanced age there is a different way to help.

“I write 14 checks every month. I figure the Lord has been good to me, so I’m giving back,” Marjorie said. The Barnabas Connection and other local non-profits are beneficiaries of her volunteer spirit that keeps pushing no matter the age.