Obituary of Margaret Iris Hillyer

Margaret Iris Schade (Snodgrass) Margarett Schade, locally known as Maggie Hillyer, passed away on July 16, 2018 at the age of 69 in Shelton WA. Margaret (Maggie) Snodgrass was born April 1st, 1949 in Portland, OR. Maggie is survived by her husband, Micheal Schade; her three sisters Marie Waltemate of Long Beach, Margie Long of Madras OR., Marlene Marshall of Camp Shermon, OR.; her four children Margo Peters, Mike Gustin, Mary White and John Hillyer; her step-daughters Taj Schade and Heidi Kane; along with 12 grandchildren. Maggie grew up in Culver, OR. but graduated from Ilwaco High School in 1967. After graduation, Maggie married Melvin Gustin and had three children, Margo, Mike and Mary. Maggie settled in Lander, WY after divorce and met Lester Hillyer. The couple then welcomed a new addition to the family, John Hillyer. Maggie and her family moved back to Long Beach, Washington in 1988 where she found employment as a paraprofessional teacher’s assistant in the Ocean Beach School District but primarily worked at Ilwaco Junior Senior High School for Dianna Hill in the Special Education department, affectionately called Ms, Maggie by her students. She loved working with students and helped them succeed to graduation and employment. Lester Hillyer passed in 1989 due to a long battle with heart disease. Maggie continued working in the Ocean Beach school district until 2005. She met her loving soul mate Micheal Schade, through a Christian web site. Maggie and Mike married in April of 2008 with friends and family gathered to celebrate their union. With the union two families blended into one and Maggie welcomed her step-daughters Heidi Kane and Taj Schade as her daughters. Maggie loved her blended family and was proud of her children. Maggie loved to tell and write stories and had two novels published, Malicious Love and Wendell, as Maggie Snodgrass. What brought her the most joy was spending time with loved ones, friends and their two dashounds, Buddy and Lil Bit. She was always loving, open about her opinions and honest. Maggie lost her battle with cancer on July 16th, 2018 at her home in Shelton, WA. She was surrounded by loved ones and friends in her final moments. A small service was held on Sunday July 22nd, 2018 in Shelton, WA.