Marcia Cogburn

­Marcia Karen (Ewald) Cogburn was born Feb. 25, 1947, in North Platte, Nebraska. She died and left this life on Oct. 16, 2020, at her home in Holyoke, with her husband Steve by her side.

Marcia began her life with her twin sister Martha in Dickens, Nebraska. Her father Henry Ewald and mother Hazel (Smith) Ewald moved them from Dickens to Stoneham when they were small.

Henry worked for Burlington Northern Railroad, so their lives were interesting, to say the least. She told stories of living in a boxcar in Stoneham for a time while her father worked the railroad.

Marcia and her sister Martha started grade school in New Raymer and never missed a Sunday at First Baptist Church in Sterling unless the weather prevented them from driving that far — then they would still go to services in Stoneham.

She told many stories of she and her sister catching lizards and turning them loose on people’s porches (or in their houses) and riding bicycles down the cow trail to the pond or wandering down the bar ditch with their red wagon.

Marcia was diagnosed with polio when she was a baby but never let it hold her back. She started walking when they said she could not and continued to strive even when the curvature of her spine said she should not.

The Ewald family moved to Holyoke in 1960, and she started high school and graduated from high school in Holyoke. After high school she worked for TRW in Ogallala, Nebraska, driving every day to work until one winter day when she went in circles on the Venango, Nebraska, curve. She then went to work in several different restaurants in Holyoke, a job she truly enjoyed.

Marcia met her first husband, Larry Peckham, in Holyoke, and they married in 1966. To this union were born two sons: Brent in 1967 and Todd in 1971. Marcia dearly loved her boys, and she viewed raising them as one of the bright spots of her life.

Marcia was a doer. She never left anything undone that could be completed. She loved working in her yard, cleaning her house and making sure everything was in its place.

In 1983 she met the love of her life, Steve Cogburn. They married on March 2, 1984. Steve took her to the farm in 1984, and they stayed until 1985 when they moved back to Holyoke. She supported him in everything they did and worked as a certified nurse aide for the local nursing home until her health began to fail her. Her back started to be an issue, and she never was able to be employed again.

She never quit; she never gave up. She would walk the neighborhood around her home and pick up the leaves and trash that would blow in. She was always there for her sister whenever she needed help. The one thing in the end that tormented her was that she could no longer rake leaves.

Marcia died at home as she wished to do, in the arms of her husband.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Hazel; former husband, Larry Peckham; brother-in-law, Jim Leibbrandt; and father-in-law, Charles Cogburn.

She is dearly missed by her husband, Steven Cogburn; sister, Martha Stoermer; sons, Brent Peckham and wife Sherrie and Todd Peckham; sister-in-law, Diana Cogburn; sister- and brother-in-law, Vicky and Chris Fillinger; sister-in-law, Kim Cogburn; mother-in-law, Joan Cogburn; and many friends and cousins and her special little dogs, Oso and Ariel.

The memorial service was held Oct. 24 at First Baptist Church of Holyoke, with Pastor Rick Reitz officiating. Cremation was chosen, and inurnment followed at Holyoke Cemetery.

Baucke Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.