Mary Marjorie (Vanlandingham) Birtwhistle

(Mary) Marjorie (Vanlandingham) Birtwhistle was born March 29, 1925 in Randolph County, Indiana, on the family farm, which has been in the family since grandfather Omer.  The farm has been a gathering place for generations and a place where Marjorie’s children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren would visit frequently. Originally, her family moved to Omer’s farm to take care of him in his old age. This farm has now passed to her grandson, Dan Birtwhistle. Marjorie knew her great grandfather, Ambrose who died in 1929 at the age of 94, and who fought in the Civil War and migrated to Indiana in a covered wagon as an indentured servant to his Uncle. His house still stands on Indian territory Road.  

Marjorie did well in school in Winchester and scored the highest in the county on an IQ test which landed her a scholarship to Purdue University. In 1944 she transferred to Indiana University where she met her husband Marion R. Birtwhistle. They Married on October 10, 1946. Their first born, Charles, was born while they were in school at IU in Bloomington. From Bloomington, they moved to Gary, Indiana, where Marion got a job at and the Birtwhistle family settled down in Crown Point, IN. In 1969, as daughter, Susan, was finishing high school, and Charles was in college, they moved again to Indianapolis, where Marion secured a job at Allstate Insurance as a Claims Manager.

Marjorie was a design draftsman. She made blueprints and worked several jobs at a time when men comprised the workforce in the industry. In the 1960’s she worked at General American Transportation Corp. drawing huge blueprints of railroad cars. She wore a hardhat and steel -toed boots to work. Her skills demonstrated that she had a unique talent to calculate dangerous areas on the tracks and design equipment accordingly.

Marjorie had and ivory slide rule carried in a leather belt case engraved with her initials in gold. She always kept Smoley’s book of combined logarithmic tables close at hand. She once made the cover of a engineering magazine with the machine she designed to turn freight cars upside down.  Today she would probably be called a nerd. She always worked with men and had to be assertive to make her way in male-dominated jobs. When the family moved to Indianapolis she worked making isometric drawings. When her parents retired from farming in 1976, she and Marion bought the farm and moved to Winchester. For a while she worked at Union City Body Company but eventually she started working with her husband as full-time farmers. Her love of engineering and unique skills, coupled with Marion’s expertise in tool and die making, allowed them o make modifications to farm equipment that improved efficiency.

While she was in Crown Point she became very involved in the DAR. Her Grandmother, on her mother’s side, founded the DAR chapter in Winchester. When they moved back to Winchester she got involved in their DAR chapter and worked at the Randolph County museum. When she was five years old, she had had the honor of pulling the tarp of the Winchester Doughboy statue by the courthouse. She loved writing historical articles for the DAR and the museum. She loved going to Choir School at Epworth Forest and even convinced her granddaughter, Kyle, to attend with her. She belonged to the Sweet Adelines and generally loved singing. She was also an avid reader.  Following her husband, Marion’s death in 2011, she continued farming by herself until 2021, when she moved in with her daughter, Susan, in Indianapolis at age 95. In 2023 she began living at the Sugar Grove Retirement community in Plainfield, IN.

Marjorie is survived by her two children, Charles and Susan (Dr.Gary), four grandchildren, Kyle (Zac) Schenetzke, Dr. Tim (Mary) Birtwhistle, Daniel (Julie) Birtwhistle, and Ellen (Nick) Abt, and seven great-grandchildren.

A service to celebrate Marjorie’s will be at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at the Walker Funeral Home, with Steve McCoy officiating.  Burial will follow at Fountain Park Cemetery in Winchester.

Friends and family may call an hour before the services on Saturday, at the funeral home.

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