SOUTH BEND - Dr. Marjorie Snyder Reuthe passed away peacefully on May 27, 2008, at the age of 94. She led a very full and productive life, breaking many professional barriers. She was born in 1914 to Nona and Dr. Edward Snyder in Canadian, Texas. She was the fourth of five children and was the last surviving child. Her father was the only doctor in this very small town in the Texas Panhandle. At a very young age Dr. Marjorie learned that it was possible to do anything she set her heart to - even if she was a woman. Her grandmother, Mary Jane Alexander, lived with Marjorie's family growing up. Mary Jane Alexander was the wife of Rev. Clifton Wrenshaw Alexander, the first Presbyterian minister in the Texas Panhandle. The Alexanders had moved to the frontier town of Mobeetie, Texas, in 1884, and shortly thereafter Rev. Alexander died. In the face of adversity, Mary Jane acquired two sections of land in Canadian, Texas, becoming the first woman in agriculture in the Panhandle. She raised and college educated five children on the prairie without a husband. Her grandmother's fighting spirit supported Dr. Marjorie throughout her life. In high school, Marjorie decided that she wanted to be a dentist. After attending Park College in Nevada, Missouri, she became one of the first women to attend Baylor Dental School in Dallas, Texas. After graduation from Baylor she interned at Forsyth Institute in Boston where she met and became engaged to Dr. John Reuthe of Muncie, Indiana. While Dr. John worked for the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland, Canada, Marjorie went to Northwestern University in Chicago to obtain a master's degree in dentistry, focusing on orthodontia, becoming one of only three women orthodontists in the country. After completing her graduate work, she and John were married in Canadian, Texas, in July 1939. They then moved to South Bend and established a dental practice together that same year. After many years of struggling for acceptance as a woman dentist and orthodontist in a male-dominated field, she became one of the area's leading practitioners and nationally recognized for contributions to the science of orthodontics. Until her retirement she received much recognition in the field of dentistry and was a member of various Indiana state dental associations, a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and The Edward H. Angle Orthodontic Society. In 1984 she retired from practice after a 45-year career. Always active in her community, Marjorie was a charter member of Altrusa International, South Bend, a past regent of the Schuyler Colfax Chapter of the D.A.R., a member of AAUW, the First Presbyterian Church and PEO. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. John J. Reuthe; her sisters, Helen Snyder and Dr. Ruth Sherman; and brothers, Dr. Rush Snyder and Edward Snyder. She is survived by a son, John E. Reuthe (Elizabeth) of Vassalboro, ME; a daughter, Susan Gatten (Jim), Palomar Park, CA; two grandchildren, Eric D. Reuthe (Meg) of Franklin, Tennessee, and Robin Petra Kennedy (Jim) of East Lyme, CT; and five great-grandchildren, Parker, Liam and Spencer Kennedy, Camden and Willow Reuthe. Marjorie was an inspiration to young women to be all they could be and not let others' perceptions get in the way of their dream. To that end, she was active in the St. Joseph Scholarship Foundation and donations are requested in her name to this scholarship fund, 3515 N. Main St., Suite C, Mishawaka, IN 46545. Private services were held Friday, June 6, 2008. Welsheimer Family Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Family and friends may leave e-mail condolences at welshfh@yahoo.com.
Published in the South Bend Tribune on 6/8/2008.