Traverse City – Margaret Jane Forgione, 91, of Traverse City passed away peacefully at French Manor Assisted Living on March 14, 2026.
Marge was born on September 5, 1934 in Detroit to the late Theodore George and Margaret (Wurzburg) Pattinson.
Marge was a fiercely independent woman and nonconformist, particularly with respect to being a single mother in the 1960's and 70's.
She earned a Bachelor's degree from Michigan State University then a Master's degree from Wayne State University. She became a social worker for a brief period before finding her true calling in education. She taught kindergarten most of her career.
After moving from Detroit to Traverse City in 1967, she purchased a fixer-upper and happily spent most weekends over the next few years at Red Mill Lumber purchasing items for her latest project.
A few years after living in her Traverse City home, she also purchased a rustic log cabin on Spider Lake as a weekend getaway. Although the cabin had no plumbing or electricity, there was an oil lantern, a hand pump in the kitchen sink and an old-fashioned outhouse out back. It was a beautiful private lot with no visible neighbors on a small cove off the main section of the lake. It was dense with trees and ferns and Lady Slippers in the springtime. A rickety old rowboat made many excursions around the lake. It was not a glamorous property, but she treasured her time there.
She was a dedicated teacher who brought her love of science and the outdoors into the classroom. Her classroom always contained a display of rocks, pinecones, leaves, bugs, or anything collected from her nature walks.
Marge took early retirement from Michigan, but rather than retiring, she moved to New Stuyahok, Alaska to continue teaching. New Stuyahok is a remote village where supplies arrive only by small plane. When the weather was poor, there were no supplies. She later moved to Metlakatla, Alaska where she spent a few more years teaching before finally formally retiring and moving back to Michigan in 1998.
Marge was in her element outdoors. She was happiest at the helm of her sailboat, but she also enjoyed backpacking, snow skiing, water skiing, kayaking, hiking, and tent camping. She travelled the world, but some highlights were a year of backpacking with her daughter throughout Europe, a strenuous two-week canoe trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a backpacking trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Appalachian Trail, snowshoeing and winter camping in Traverse City and solo trips to Taiwan and New Zealand.
Marge was very active in the community, advocating for the preservation of natural resources and strongly voicing her political beliefs. She was a proud member of the Grand Traverse Democratic Party. There was never any doubt about where she stood on an issue.
She is survived by her daughter Kathy Bradford and her two grandchildren Laura Bradford and Alex (Mattie) Bradford, special niece Donna (Anchor) O'Connor, special cousin Bill (Linda) Elliott and many dear friends who she cherished.
She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Ken Pattinson and Ted Pattinson.
An informal memorial gathering in her honor will be held on Wednesday July 1, 2026, at 4:30pm at the Boardman River Nature Center Pavillion at 1450 Cass Rd. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Marge.
Memorial contributions in her honor may be directed to Doctors without Borders or to Southern Poverty Law Center.