Margret Mary (Thies) (Riley) McRae passed away March 17 with her family by her side.

Marge was born in Burns Aug. 31, 1925, to Gretta Louise (Houghton) Thies and Hermon G. Thies. She grew up in Burns, going to grade school and high school there, and on to some college.

Marge had a dream as a small child. She used to go to Logan Valley as a companion to Lenore Capps, whose parents surveyed for the government. She went with them for several years, and one day, when Lenore’s father told her it was time to go home, Marge said, “Someday when I grow up, I want to come up here and build a great big barn so a bunch of kids can have a good time.”

Marge learned how to hunt, fish, camp, and ride horses.  She worked in the hay fields mowing hay all day, and as the years went by she graduated to cooking three meals a day for the hay crew.

A few years later, in 1944, Marge and Howard Riley went to Winnemucca, Nev., and got married, along with Edith Morgan and Gene Dripps. The four of them were great friends all their lives.

On April 16, 1949, in Ontario, she and Howard had a baby girl named Sally Susanne. The little girl was the apple of the family’s eye because she was the only grandchild for the first 10 years. Living in Drewsey then, Marge worked in her flower garden in her spare time. She taught herself to do leather craft, and started a 4-H club. As the years went by, she taught 4-H leathercraft, sheep, and horse for 28 years. She even had a taxidermy class. She was also a member of the Home Extension Club.

On May 3, 1959, in Burns, she had a little boy, Timothy Frank. In the 60s, she was involved in the Harney County Cowbells and served as vice president and president. She worked in arts and hobbies and the flower department at the fair for many, many years.

Also in the 1960s, she received word that they were going to build a recreation camp in Logan Valley and she wanted to help build the lodge. It was suggested they sell 200 lifetime memberships to request a loan from the government so they could get started on their project. Marge went to work selling 200 memberships. Everywhere she went, that was all the two kids heard: “I’d like to sell you a lifetime membership for the Lake Creek Recreation Camp.” Years went by, but before long, they had the membership completed. A $25,000 loan was obtained through FHA, and it would only cost $50,000 to complete the lodge. They started in June of 1966, and with shovel in hand, she did the groundbreaking at Lake Creek, with Roderick McKay from Harper, director of the Lake Creek Recreation Association, County Agent Ray Novotny of Burns, and County Agent Bill Farrell of John Day looking on. The site is located 10 miles east of Seneca.

It started out by accommodating 4-H youth, scouts, and church youth groups, and is open to adult organizations as well.

Marge was president of Lake Creek Youth Facility for many years. Edward Hines Lumber and Jim Tackman Construction did a lot of work, donating time and lumber to build the lodge.  Bill Foster was the construction supervisor of the lodge. Volunteers helped put on the roof and get the walls up before the snow started that winter.

In the winter there were other things keeping her busy. She married John Duncan McRae in April of 1967, and moved to the “Mace Place” near the Island Ranch. She continued being a rancher’s wife, pushing the cattle on cattle drives from the Riverside Ranch to the Mace Place in the spring and fall.

When the weather started getting better and the snow was gone in Logan Valley, everyone started working on Lake Creek again. Laddie Clark from Drewsey used his back hoe to fill in the drain field for the 2,500-gallon septic tanks. John McRae and Marge hauled a truck load of lumber from the Hines mill to complete the interior of the lodge.

Soon they had completed the main building. Then made pamphlets and sent them out to Grant, Harney and Malheur counties. As time has gone by, many upgrades have been added, such as propane, kitchen appliances, an all-stainless steel kitchen, new bathrooms, and cabins.

Today, Grant County and its hard-working people are still working to keep Marge’s dream going. She kept a scrapbook of all the buildings and meetings for many years, and even painted the front of the scrapbook to look like the outside of the lodge. The scrapbook is at the Lake Creek Youth Facility.

At the third annual fundraising dinner and auction  in 2009, members of the Lake Creek Youth Facility dedicated the Fireplace Room to Marge to commemorate her dream and dedication.

Marge started working at the Burns Chamber of Commerce’s in 1980, and worked there for six years. She was Woman of the Year in 1992, and Grand Marshal of the Harney County Rodeo and Race meet in 1998. She was a member and president for many years of the Sunrise Garden Club. They put up $1,500 for the mating eagle sculpture at the Senior Center which sits in the front yard. They also put a stainless steel sculpture with iris in the entryway of the Harney District Hospital. Iris is the flower for Sunrise Garden Club. Her life was filled with enjoying people, loving and teaching children, enjoying the outdoors, scenery and family. Her dream was Lake Creek Youth Camp.

In May 2013, Marge moved into The Aspens. Marge and Sally went on short day trips here and there. Sally tried to keep her mother as active as she could. Marge was losing her eyesight, and she accepted it the best she could and went on, not complaining about it. The last year she didn’t go out too much, as it was very exhausting.

Marge is survived by her son, Timothy Riley, and his wife, Nancy, and  their son, Jordan, of Dallas; daughter, Sally Lovins of Hines; niece, Heidi (Sands) Eggers of Burns; and nephew, Bobby Sands, and his wife, Doris of California.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Billy; father, Herman (Dutch) Thies; mother, Gretta (Houghton) Thies; and her husband, John D. McRae.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the St.  Andrews Episcopal / Peace Lutheran Church, 393 West A Street in Burns. Donations may be made to Lake Creek Youth Recreational Camp, P.O. Box  542, John Day, OR 97845, or Saint Andrews Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 627, Burns, OR 97720.