Margery Cline

October 21, 2023, Margery Carolyn Cline, age 92, of Sacramento, California passed away peacefully with her family at her side at her favorite late evening hour.  Margery had moved from her beloved house in East Sacramento into Oakmont Senior Living in early 2022 where she remained close to her family for regular visits and Sunday dinners.  

Margery was born on February 2, 1931 to Harold Dye Slosson and Margaret Thayer Slosson in Los Angeles.  The family lived in a small house in South Los Angeles where she describes walking to kindergarten and crossing Normandy Avenue, five blocks to school.  They relocated to the “country” (aka Protrero Heights in South San Gabriel) where they had a new home built on property near San Gabriel Blvd.  Her early years were filled with family gatherings with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins throughout Southern California.  

Margery made many friends, most importantly her long-standing best friend Babara Ayres of Seal Beach with whom she spoke with regularly right up until her passing. Margery graduated from El Monte Union High School in 1948 and started her first job at Dunn and Bradstreet in Los Angeles while also taking courses at East Los Angeles Community College.  

Margery married Charles G. Cline in June 1952 and the two moved to Hawaii where Charles was stationed in the Marine Corps.  They were excited to add Gilbert Dana Cline to the family while residing in the Punalu’u area.  After Hawaii and a brief stint in Houston Texas, the family relocated back to California.  After a brief stay in Coalinga where she worked for Newton Drilling, they then headed to the coast and the Santa Barbara area.  Margery worked for Vista Del Mar Grammar School while Charles went to UC Santa Barbara and eventually joined the California State Parks.  

Her life then led to a series of moves throughout beautiful areas of California where each move brought new adventures.  This phase of life started in Goleta where she fondly recalled the opportunity to live within the boundaries of Refugio State Beach Park.  Big Basin State Park in Santa Cruz County came next where Leighann joined the family.  They lived in State park housing in “the meadow” which she was quite distressed to hear was demolished in the recent CZU Complex fire.  The next move was to idyllic Cambria and the impressive Hearst Castle, where Margery even had the opportunity to swim in Hearst’s fabulous outdoor swimming pool.  Sonoma and wine country then called where the family lived at the entrance to the General Vallejo House State Park. The family enjoyed field trips to budding California wineries.  Humboldt County and the small town of Fortuna followed where Margery was able to continue taking college courses which eventually lead to her obtaining her undergraduate degree from Humboldt State University.  This was the start of a great tradition as her son Gil had a long career as a Professor at HSU and grandson Tyler also became an HSU Alumni.  She enjoyed part-time work at the small Fortuna library, the start of a long career as a librarian. 

Gil remained in Humboldt County at HSU, and the slightly smaller family of three then moved temporarily to Stockton and then to Lodi (near Lockford) where horses, chickens, dogs and cats were added to the household.  Margery found employment at the Delta Community College Library where she thoroughly enjoyed the assignment of selecting new books to purchase for the collection.  Oroville came next where a beautiful house with a large garden area occupied Margery’s time.  She had the opportunity to sit on the County Grand Jury which she found quite interesting.  The family then relocated back to the coast in unincorporated Monterey County (Oak Hills) where Leighann graduated High School.  Margery went back to work full-time and was employed at the Naval PostGraduate School’s Dudley Knox Library.  This was a particularly busy time in her life as she traveled to-and-from Southern California to assist her aging parents while working full time in Monterey and pursuing her graduate degree in the evenings in San Jose.  She persevered and was gratified to obtain her Masters from San Jose State University with a degree in Library Science.

Upon retirement from her role as a civilian Navy employee, Margery relocated to Sacramento to be near family.  She helped raise Sean and Gillian while they were young while also pursuing her various hobbies.  She had the opportunity to travel overseas on separate trips to England, Israel, Italy, France, and Sicily as well as locations within the US.  She actively participated in the activities at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral including as a member of the Altar Guild and Stephen Ministries.  She continued her parent’s tradition of sending custom Christmas Cards using her own photographic art.  She enjoyed gardening and particularly enjoyed her numerous roses.  Her love of books was evident in the breadth and quantity of volumes in her home.  She particularly loved collecting first editions and signed books and was a regular volunteer at the annual Friends of the Library book sale.    

Margery was predeceased by her brother Walter Slosson, her parents, Harold and Margaret Slosson, and her husband Charles Cline.  She is survived by her son Gilbert Cline and daughter Leighann Cline Moffitt, her daughter-in-law Valorie Cline, son-in-law Bryan Moffitt and grandchildren Tyler Cline, Sean Moffitt and Gillian Moffitt.

A private service will be held graveside at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to The Save the Redwoods League