Margaret A. ISELI (nee Winarski) age 87. Beloved wife of the late Richard “Tanky”. Dear sister of the late Ralph Winarski, Marion Stark, Louise Romans, Roy Winar, Irene McGann, and Thomas Winar (Esther). Loving aunt and friend to many. Margaret was a graduate of West H. S. and retired after 33 years of service with the IRS.
Funeral Service: Sat. Jan. 4, 11:00 AM at The Zabor Funeral Home, 5680 Pearl Rd. Parma (betw. Snow & Ridge). Visitation: Prior to service from 9:30-11:00 AM.
Donation may be made to the City Mission, 5310 Carnegie Ave. Cleve. 44103. To offer condolences please visit www.ZaborFH.com
Messages of Condolence
Our hearts here in Columbus are saddened to hear that our cousin Marg has passed away. She was a great lady, strong and caring, with a heart of gold. I spent many good times with Marg and Tanky when they visited the family of Sonny Sprouse here in Columbus. We had some great parties, attended the Ohio State Fair together, and had many great talks around our kitchen table. We had good meals and enjoyed treats! One of my favorite memories of Marg was at the Ohio State Fair. She and I were standing in line to buy a chocolate covered ice cream cone on a very windy day and the wind blew her dollar bill right into the chocolate sauce and the vendor wanted to give it back to her and have her give him a fresh clean one! I was holding the two ice cream cones and she told him she had already paid her dollar and if he wanted the dollar, he would have to be satisfied with the chocolate one. We enjoyed eating those cones. Marge was always very kind and generous with my mother, my sister, me and my husband and girls. We all loved her well. We will miss you cousin! And hold all our memories of you dear and close to our hearts. 🙂
The Sprouse First Cousins from Columbus,Oh. And The Iseli First Cousins from Cleveland, Oh we’re like brothers and sisters. For over 60 years,we enjoyed many great times together. Richard (Tanky) and Marge were a very special couple in our lives. Marge was a beautiful classy lady inside and out. She was generous,warm hearted and always spoke her mind and the truth. She will be missed and loved forever. Thanks Good Buddy for all your kindness and support to me throughout the years. Your cousin – in – law Mary Morgan Sprouse Columbus, Oh.
Aunt Marg was a steadying force in my life for well over 50+ years. She helped arrange Family Picnics at Pleasant Valley Lake complete with extended family members and memories to last a lifetime. She hosted parties with polka music, games galore and served multi-colored pops for all the kids complete with pin ball games and slip n slides. She had a light blue peanut machine in her kitchen and used Ivory soap – sometimes she and Uncle Tank even had snapping turtles in the driveway!
Opinionated – you bet. You always knew where you stood with Aunt Marg. She kept lists of birthdays, anniversaries and honored each of us. She was the keeper of our genealogy tree and reminder of our traditions!
She stepped in for my Mom and flew to Florida to help my sister Jan after the birth of her son Brad. She came to visit us in Rockford and kept our ties to Cleveland. We exchanged macaroni salad recipes, cleaning tips and took trips down memory lane. Her voice reminded me of my Mom, Irene, and her advice was heart felt and wise.
I will really miss you Aunt Marg – Rest In Peace.
Love Patty McGann Quinn
The Casselberry clan will miss Marge & Tanky both.
I hope they are together again.
My Dad (William) was a life long friend of Tanky’s and so he & Marge were like an aunt & uncle to us. I remember all of the parties, camping trips, etc as well!
Rest in Peace, we will remember you always.
Dear Iseli Family,
We are so very sorry for your loss. May God sustain you through the love of family and friends and through prayer (Psalms 55:22). Marge will be sorely missed by the many hearts that she touched.
Aunt Marg was my great aunt, and I remember plenty of times we visited her and Tanky and times they stopped by to visit us in FL. Aunt Marg always found something to laugh with us about. She was always very good to me, my Mom and all our family.
When my brother and I were kids, Aunt Marg would love to tell us ghost stories and we loved to run around the house chasing, and being chased, by those imaginations. We would eventually end up in their basement, where they always had fun things to do like play bumper pool, play euchre, and have a good time with family.
Some of the first snow we ever saw was visiting Marg and Tanky. Growing up in Florida, it was a nice treat to see Aunt Marg and Uncle Tanky in winter because we could have snowball fights, build snowmen and ride sleds in the yard. I remember one trip, we all went to a park that was converted for winter use as a sled ride. It was a lot of fun!
Visiting Aunt Marg and Uncle Tanky in summer months was great too. I remember going camping on several occasions and how much fun we had. We kids always love camping. One time, my brother and I got into a wasp’s nest and we both got stung. I remember it was Aunt Marg who noticed my foot was swollen more than normal and she calmed me down and helped me recover.
Aunt Marg will always be in my heart and I will miss her and Tanky both.
With Love,
Jeff Bridgham
My Aunt Marg helped teach me manners with her faithful correspondence, establishing a long tradition that I treasure. I received a card in the mail from her on the very day that she died, addressed in that familiar spiky handwriting.
The family bond mattered to Aunt Marg, there were duties and obligations in exchange for the continuity that kept a niece like me in contact with her from thousands of miles away over decades and decades. She put pen to paper, investing her time, and it was a pleasure to reply knowing that she appreciated it.
It was reassuring when you’d see an envelope in the mail that you knew was from Marg with her awesome pre-computer reminder system that got us our birthday cards and thank-you notes on time. She was good at surprises too. To hold one of those cards in my hand on the day she died was both sad and uplifting.
I too remember the picnics and weddings and funerals as a little girl observing all the aunts and uncles and cousins in different combinations; these weren’t rare events at all. It’s what we did as an extended family: grown-ups planned stuff and we kids went along. It was a busy world, and my Aunt Marg had a central role. What a planner!! We’ve lost an anchor point, she was always there at that house on that street. All my life — sixty years. Yes, there may have been a snapping turtle at the end of the slip’n slide once in a while, but they added that screened-in patio so cozy for telling ghost stories… every Christmas the train went around the tree, there were always sparklers on the 4th of July. And peanuts in the dispenser.
Thank you, Aunt Marg, for everything.
Aunt Marg was my “aunt-in-law” for over twenty years. She was a kind and generous person, always welcoming us to visit her and Uncle Tanky in Parma. She was a great cook and nobody left her house hungry. She and Tanky visited Florida every year and we always saw them in St. Pete or over here on our side in Cocoa. We shared many good times, playing cards, telling jokes and reminiscing. My first impression of Aunt Marg was that she was the only member of the Iseli clan who didn’t have a nickname. There was Tanky, Yit and Skippy but I was glad I didn’t have to remember Marg as anybody but Marg. The funniest thing about her was when she sometimes referred to herself in third person. I recall her saying things like, “Aunt Marg won’t like that,” or “Aunt Marg is listening.” I’m sure she’s listening now from heaven and will hear me say, “Rest in peace, I miss you. Love, Larry”
My heart is exposed to sadness at the loss of my Aunt Marg. Nevertheless, let us all remember the good times. When I was a small kid, I remember one snowy Christmas we were driving from Rockford to Parma in a blizzard. We hit an ice covered bridge which spun the car around leaving it stranded in oncoming traffic. We got going again with six more hours to reach Aunt Marg’s house. Upon arrival Uncle Tanky and My Dad spent several hours in the nighttime blizzard opening the smashed trunk of the car to obtain our luggage while Aunt Marg gave us a hot meal and a warm bed. The trip was worth it to see my Aunt Marg and Uncle Tanky.
Summers at Aunt Marg and Uncle Tanky’s include lawn darts, lightening bugs, camping trips and visits to the emergency room. In an age where life may arguably be getting too safe for kids Aunt Marg and Uncle Tanky gave us lawn darts, taught us proper use and let us have fun.
Uncle Tanky took us camping rain or shine. My brother Jeff and I decided we needed more firewood. We picked up a log bigger than both of us; Jeff dropped it and ran off. A few seconds later when I was stung by the ground hornets I too ran towards camp, Uncle Tanky and My dad. I was stung once; Jeff was stung seven times necessitating emergency room attention. However, when all of us got back to Aunt Marg’s house we blissfully enjoyed poker, euchre, bumper pool and hot meals.
Moreover, whether it was spoken or written, through it all, Aunt Marg continually insisted upon conveying simple thanks to each other. Thank you Aunt Marg. Thank you for sharing your life with me, you will be remembered. Love Brad
Thanks for the memories and the experience of being tied to a large network of family and friends whose bonds remained strong despite the miles and years. I’ll think of you rejoined to those in your generation and imagine you all continue, as it was on earth is now in heaven. May we all have such good memories. Love, Jan