Mrs. Margaret Dahlhauser's Obituary
Dr. Margaret Dahlhauser, age 90, passed away on November 18, 2020. She was a resident of The Hearth in Hendersonville, TN.
Visitation with social distancing and masks will be held at Spring Hill Funeral Home in Madison on Friday, November 27, from 3-7 p.m. Visitation will also be held at St. Joseph Church in Madison on Saturday, November 28, at 10 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at 11 a.m. A private graveside service for immediate family will follow at Spring Hill Cemetery.
Margaret Mary Farrell Dahlhauser was born in Elkader, Iowa, on December 16, 1929, to Francis John “Frank” and Estelle Malary Farrell. The sixth of 10 children, she had a twin sister, Agnes. Arthur Simon Dahlhauser was born in Whittemore, Iowa, on October 28, 1927, the twelfth of the 13 children of Peter J. and Josephine Elbert Dahlhauser. Art turned 18 in October of 1945, after World War II ended, but he enlisted in the US Army and served in Korea, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant. Intending to become a priest, Art attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, on the GI Bill. There he met Margaret, who was planning a religious vocation herself, and fate intervened. The two married in West Bend, Iowa, on August 18, 1951. They have been inseparable and celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in 2020.
Art graduated from Indiana University with his MBA, became a CPA, and began working as an accountant with General Electric in Bloomington, Indiana, then transferred with the family to Scotia, New York. Margaret worked hard to raise 10 children and managed to juggle child care with household chores, education, and her children’s various sports. When the youngest son, Paul, was 2 years old, the family of 12 was transferred to Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1971 they were transferred again to the General Electric facility in Hendersonville, where they put down roots.
The oldest son, Doug, enrolled at Vanderbilt University, while the youngest, Paul, started elementary school. Margaret enrolled in Vanderbilt’s nursing program herself. In 1974, Margaret and Doug both graduated from Vanderbilt together, and she began her nursing and teaching career. She earned a Master’s degree in nursing from Texas Woman’s University and began teaching nursing at Tennessee State University and later at Vol State Community College, developing a host of grateful students who benefitted from her no-nonsense NCLEX prep sessions with a 100% passing rate. She was a published author with her NCLEX/CAT-RN Core Review Study Guide. She was a tough but fair teacher who demanded the best of her students. Several years ago, the only thing discovered in her fire-proof safe were letters from her former students. These were the true treasures in her life, not money, jewelry or a property deed.
Along with her daughter Deborah, Margaret participated in medical missions to Haiti beginning in 2003 and developed affectionate relationships with the people there, hosting Haitian patients in her home when they came to the United States for serious medical treatment.
In the 1980s, Margaret began work on her doctorate in higher education administration from Texas Woman’s University. Since Art and a few of her youngest children were still at home, she had to plan carefully, cooking ahead and freezing plenty of meals, in order to spend three consecutive summers in Texas away from her family until she completed her dissertation. She was always proud to be called “Dr. Dahlhauser.” She instilled in all her children and grandchildren the importance of a good education, and most earned advanced and professional degrees.
Art retired from General Electric in 1983 and worked for several years as an auditor for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture before he retired again in the early 1990s.
The Dahlhausers bought a condo share in Gulf Shores Plantation in 1996 and formed a partnership with their children so that now four generations of Dahlhausers have continued to enjoy special vacations and family time there.
Upon retirement, the Dahlhausers traveled to visit Ireland and Austria. In the 1990s, they traveled to Medjugorje in Bosnia to visit the shrine there and the visionaries who claimed to have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary. This was a major inspiration in their lives. Margaret in particular also was inspired by Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, who became a saint in 2002.
Margaret’s philosophy in life was to obey the commandment to “Be fruitful and multiply,” and for several years she and Art kept a hobby farm near White House, Tennessee, raising beef cattle, pigs, goats, horses, and peacocks and keeping a large garden. They bred Chow dogs as well. Until they sold the farm in 1986, Art’s favorite pastime was to ride up to the farm and “count the cows” while cracking open a “brewski.” The Dahlhauser children frequently brought home friends. Margaret’s motto was always “What’s one more?” when asked if a friend could come to supper or stay the night. They never hesitated to open their home to anyone in need. As a result, their house was always overflowing at holidays with 50 people or more. They were happiest when celebrating the many graduations, marriages, new babies, and christenings in the family.
Art and Margaret were lifetime, long-suffering, die-hard Cubs fans, and the entire family rejoiced when then 89-year-old Art was finally able to witness his Cubbies win the World Series in 2016.
Margaret was preceded in death by three sons, Doug, Kevin, and Eric; by a beloved adopted daughter, Lisa Ratte; and by their daughter-in-law Rhonda Meservy Dahlhauser. Her survivors include her husband, Art Dahlhauser, her sister Estelle, and her children, Greg (Terri), Deborah (James Williams), Mary, Stephen, Bryan, Tom, and Paul (Glenda); and her daughters-in-law Julie and Nancy. Grandchildren are Hart (Hillary), Hilarie Samei (Borhan), John (Debora), Justin, Michelle, Naomi Simmons, Nathan Jones (Ali), Jeremy Ratte (Angela), Saranna Cherry (Richie), Taylor Britt (Jimbo), Matthew, Samuel, Joel, Arin (Stephen Day), Jordan, Jennifer Knoll Salley, Andy, Lauren Heisler (Benjamin), Christopher, Ryan, and Thomas.
She also has 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to these causes she held dear to her heart:
Camp Marymount:
https://www.paybill.com/campmarymount/donation/
St. Joseph Church Haiti Mission Fund:
https://saintjosephchurchnashville.org/social-action
Alive Hospice:
https://www.alivehospice.org/donatenow
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