After a valiant 15-year battle with lung cancer, in the shadow of God, Margaret Mary Rice, passed away peacefully at the age of 81 in her home on the afternoon of March 24, 2025, with the love and warmth of her family surrounding her.
Margaret (Marge) was born in Wadsworth, Ohio in 1943 to Ivan and Lucy Spitz McElhiney. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from MTSU and began her nursing journey in the ER at Middle Tn Medical Center. In the following years, she was honored to work in Home Health, manage Quality Control processes, and finish her over 30-year nursing career as a Psychiatric nurse at Vanderbilt working with children and adolescents.
An avid Outward-Bound enthusiast, her love of nature inspired her to climb Mt. Ranier in Washington State, scuba dive in Hawaii and Grand Cayman, sky dive in Alabama, hike in the Grand Canyon, bike across Virginia, kayak and white-water raft in Tennessee, and participate in myriad triathlons and half-marathons across the United States and Canada. Her spirited determination never allowed lung cancer to impede her athleticism: Her last race was in 2023. She earned first place in her age division.
Marge’s kindness and compassion will live on in her children, Bill (Bucky) and Wanda, her daughter-in-law, Nancy, grandchildren, Chrystina and Matteo; her brother and his wife, James and Judy McElhiney; her sister-in-law, Lois; her nieces and nephews, Paul, Brendon, Katie, Maureen, Sheldon, Quinton, Joe, Frank, Kenny, Angie, Mike, Matt, Eva, Patrick and other dear family and friends.
She was predeceased by her husband and partner of 30 years, Dr. James Starrett; her first husband and father of her children James D. Rice; parents, Ivan and Lucy; siblings, Ivan, Ann (Booty), Patricia, and her niece, Chris.
Marge was a beloved member of First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro and was baptized in 2024. The family would like to thank her dear friends at First Baptist who filled the last years of her life with immense joy and hope. The faith she gained at First Baptist allowed her to leave this world with infinite peace. We are forever grateful.
“She was like a rainbow…if she touched your life, you would walk away with a new color, a new way of seeing life.”
” It is fierce out there, but you are fiercer. We shall move mountains, my girl. It is you. It is me. It is us.”
Visitation with the family will be held from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Thursday, March 27, 2025, at Woodfin Memorial Chapel, Murfreesboro, TN.
