Margaret “Margee” Theodora Justen Strub

STRUB, JUSTEN, HICKS, STUTSMAN, RUSSELL, SALM, ROBINSON

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 8/23/2017 at 10:47:02

Margaret “Margee” Theodora Justen Strub, formerly of Iowa City, died on August 16, 2017 in Acworth, GA, following a sudden illness surrounded by her family. A joint memorial service for Margee and her husband Bob will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Lensing’s Oak Hill in Coralville. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

She was born on September 11, 1931, in Iowa City, Iowa to Raymond and Margaret Hicks Justen. Margee, the oldest sibling of two, later welcomed baby brother Peter who she cherished. The two of them never lacked excitement.
When Margee was 8 years old, after many hours of practicing popping the clutch of the family Buick up-and-down their driveway, she ventured out in the streets of Iowa City to take her baby brother Pete for a ride around the block of their family home. Yes, they made it back home safely with the coaching of her baby brother, bouncing up and down in the back seat, anxiously providing her direction to “giver-the-gas-giver-the-gas”. That was the beginning of Margee’s many adventures.

Margee went to Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa. She was the class of 1949’s Homecoming Queen! After graduating high school, she attended the University of Iowa to pursue studies in the Fine Arts. While attending college, Margee was a dedicated member of the Scottish Highlanders and played the snare drum. While in college, Margee met the love of her life and later husband of 62 years, Robert “Bob” Strub.

The couple courted for a few months and then decided to elope on June 3, 1953. They were married on the Johnson County Court House steps in Iowa City, Iowa. Their honeymoon was an unforgettable event which made the newspaper headlines. They were camping near a dam and the next morning they decided to go on a canoe ride. Due to a storm, fast waters kicked up a tree branch that was sticking out of the water. Dad told Mom not to push off it, but she did, and they got dumped from the canoe, went over the dam, and under water for a short time. Amazingly, they could retrieve all belongs except their lunch basket! This is one of many stories the couple reminisced with family and friends during their 62 years of blissful marriage.

The couple then began setting up their household by sharing a twin bed in a very small cottage on Lake McBride. In 1954, their firstborn Mike (married to Phyllis) arrived. After Mike’s birth, Bob and his brother established Component Homes, Inc, a company which designed and manufactured custom prefabricated homes. Margee stood by with total support and dedication to her husband and the new business.
Shortly thereafter came their second child, Jill Bea (married to Jim Stutsman) born in 1957. Margee and Bob thought their life was complete and full but to their welcoming surprise in 1961, their youngest child, Lynn Justen, was born. During Margee’s final pregnancy she entered a contest advertised in the McCall’s magazine for Mother’s Day, regarding young mothers and was selected as the winner of the contest! She was flown to California to receive her award on the Art Linkletter Show!

During the years following, Margee and Bob were busy designing, building and decorating many beautiful custom-built homes in the Iowa City area. Their biggest project together was the remodeling of the Penningroth barn into a family home that was later sold.

Together the couple built Shaker furniture and numerous pieces of stained glass to decorate their lovely homesteads. Bob also crafted wooden items for Margee to paint in her little tucked-away paint studio underneath the basement steps.

Margee was a stay-at-home-mom who brought in extra revenue by selling her darling hand-painted treasures at local giftshops around the Iowa City and Amana areas, as well as in Vero Beach, FL, and Wisconsin. If you are lucky enough to find a little treasure signed “Margee”, you have a true gem that was painted with loving care.

To seek a warmer environment Margee and Bob later moved to Vero Beach, Florida and later to Ocala, Florida. Finally, they arrived in the Dallas/Acworth area where they spent their final years together. Bob died Sept. 1, 2015.

Other family members who preceded her in death are brothers-in-law Frank and Donald of Iowa City and son-in-law Terry Joe Russell,

Besides her children, Margee has seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three step great-grandchildren: Tyler (wife Jenna) Strub; Holly (great-grandchildren Wyatt, Lilly, Layla), Abby, Katie, Bradley (wife Tiffany) Stutsman; Kelli (companion Christina) Salm (step great-grandchildren Tara, Jessie (and Levi); Molli and (husband Don) Robinson (great-granddaughter Rylin).

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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