Margie Ann Poplis of Hermiston died on Dec. 11, 2025 in Hermiston at the age of 79.
She was born on April 2, 1946 in Eugene to Clarence and Margaret Aase Parnell.
Margie grew up in the tiny little town of Creswell. Her father was a logger and her mother a stay-at-home mom, who spent her days with Margie and older brother Rich until Margie was old enough to attend school. Margie was a hard-working student, earning an associate degree in business upon graduating from Creswell High School in 1964.
Margie began a long-standing career at the Cottage Grove Sentinel, where she quickly mastered a variety of tasks. She briefly chose to pause that career though, when a chance meeting with Charles Harrington redirected her vision and she decided it was time to start a family, fulfilling her longstanding dream of becoming a mom.
The couple wed and began their young lives together in Springfield, where they welcomed Pam in 1969 and Robert in 1973. The growing family led them to purchasing a larger home in Eugene and would ultimately move to Hermiston in 1977 to settle down. She and Charles divorced in 1980. She then met and married Park Riddle, who passed in 1991. Eventually spending the remainder of her married life with John Poplis until his passing in 2014 left her to spend the remainder of her days as a strong and independent woman.
Margie spent the majority of her career working as a dark room technician and teletypist at the Hermiston Herald, with after-hours work delivering the finished papers to the paper boys, and in her words “running the place.” She wasn’t all work though, finding some time to enjoy water skiing, snowmobiling, and yard sailing, always with an eye out for a good buy and hard-to-find antiques that in her words “were going to make a fortune.”
When her health started to decline she stayed strong and positive, beating strokes, cancer, and even colon surgery. She was greatly loved and will be dearly missed.
She is survived by her daughter, Pam Harrington and her partner Gary Welch, Hermiston; son, Robert Harrington and his wife Jessica, Hermiston; grandson, Zach Harrington and his wife Mary, Benton City, Wash.; and three great-grandchildren.
Margie was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Richard.
A funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 at Burns Mortuary Chapel, Hermiston, where you will have an opportunity to share a memory or story of Margie’s impact on your life.
A celebration of life will follow at Desert Lanes, Hermiston.
Please share memories of Margie with her family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com.
Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in care of arrangements.
