Marge Trenbeath

Marge Crask was born on November 16, 1924, on a farm between Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. She was raised on that rural farm during the Great Depression, tutored in the knowledge of agriculture and survival. 

Marge became a believer when she was twelve, and early on, she had a desire to serve as a missionary. “In my earlier years, and especially after my conversion, I had been impressed with the need of foreign lands and the privilege of telling others about Christ,” Marge wrote in her missionary application to WGM at the age of twenty-six. 

Marge finished school and went on to work in an office in Louisville. While there, she lived with the Young Women’s Christian Association and further contemplated God’s purpose for her life. On September 7, 1944, she fully dedicated her life to Christ. 

Marge married Bob Trenbeath during their studies with WGM on July 22, 1949. During this time, Bob and Marge felt a calling toward education. As the desire to teach grew, they hoped to one day do this as missionaries. 

This hope became reality when the Trenbeaths were appointed to WGM’s?Kenya Field?in 1952. 

Their ministry began in a tumultuous political climate as they flew into Kenya. Despite this chaos, they managed over forty schools. Most of these schools were used dually as churches, where Bob would travel and supervise indigenous teachers who were trained in English. Marge cared for their four children at home, provided secretary duties, taught home economics, and performed a multitude of other tasks alongside Bob. 

The couple spent five years in Kenya until Bob needed to return to the States because of health reasons. After his recovery, they wished to return to Kenya, but political divisions had grown worse during their time away. Return was deemed too dangerous, so the Trenbeaths sought their next calling. 

In 1961, Bob and Marge transferred to the?Texas-Mexico border, where Bob served as principal for Taylor Institute, then a WGM-sponsored school for Spanish-speaking children. For the next seventeen years, Bob and Marge worked with other schools, including Southwest Indian School, which served children from Native American tribes. Bob and Marge learned Spanish themselves, developing linguistic and cultural understandings needed for their ministry. 

The Trenbeaths continued their ministry at Southwest Indian School until their retirement in 1988. On October 27, 2022, Marge moved to her eternal home with her Lord. From the farmlands of America to the fields of Kenya to the Sonora Desert, Marge Trenbeath served on an amazing journey of God’s will.