Obituary
Marguerite Ziem Schaeffer passed away on May 20, 2023, after a brief battle with lung cancer. She was 80 years old. Daughter to the late Sam and Julia Marabeti, she was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Marguerite graduated from Felician College in Lodi, New Jersey. Armed with her strong faith and her degree in psychology, she carried out God’s work in the community by volunteering to support troubled youth from the Pius XII Family Services Program in Orange County, New York, while also working as Business Manager for the family furniture business and Comptroller at Jami Direct Marketing.
During her years before retirement, Marguerite was a mother to her own children and a foster mother, “Mom,” to over a dozen children, eventually adopting and bringing three more into the family.
After retiring to Cape Coral, Florida, Marguerite remained active by continuing her acts of faith through her involvement in the St. Maximillian Kolbe Secular Franciscan Fraternity where she was a Minister and leader for many years, and also through her involvement with the Council of Catholic Women, where as President, she led the charge on many issues within the church and the community of Cape Coral. Throughout her life, her faith persevered in spite of surviving the deaths of her first husband Granville or “Johnny”, her son Melvyn “Baby Melvyn”, second husband Melvyn, and most recently her husband, Bill Schaeffer who also passed from cancer in 2011.
Marguerite’s family grieves for her loss but are comforted by the assurance of her deep faith in the Lord and by the exemplary example of strength, love, and leadership she left her family to strive for. She is survived by her children John Fitzpatrick, Samantha Ziem, Karen Brooks, Shannon Perino, Lewis Cole, Charity Schaeffer, and Kerry Shaeffer as well as her grandchildren Melanie Rinbrand, Adam (AJ) Rinbrand, Emmett Fitzpatrick, Zoey Rinbrand, Mollie Schaeffer, Jackson Culver, Wyatt Culver, and Paige Brooks.
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