Mrs. Marjorie Reidhead
Marjorie Nash Reidhead was born on February 16, 1922 in Westchester, Iowa, to the late Charles D. Nash and Florence I. James Nash. She graduated as high school valedictorian in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1939 and continued her education at John Fletcher College, graduating in 1943. On February 9, 1943, she married Rev. Paris W. Reidhead, and she taught speech and worked in college administration while he completed his B.A. at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. From 1945-48, Marjorie and Paris served as missionaries with the Sudan Interior Mission, doing linguistic work among tribes on the Sudan-Ethiopia border. On returning to the U.S. they lived in numerous states, settling in northern Virginia in 1969. With Rev. Reidhead’s passing in 1992, Mrs. Reidhead relocated to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Mrs. Reidhead was a lifelong educator, teaching English at mission schools in Africa and English as a Second Language in the Fairfax County Public Schools until her retirement in 2000. She was a gifted public speaker and writer, publishing articles in Guideposts magazine and authoring a memoir, African Vignettes, published in 2006. Mrs. Reidhead was a member of Hillsboro United Methodist Church and served on the board of directors of Bible Teaching Ministries, Inc.
Rev. and Mrs. Reidhead had six children—Paris W. Reidhead, the late James D. Reidhead, the late Sarah Reidhead Armstrong, Virginia R. Teitt, David C. Reidhead, and Julia A. Reidhead; 21 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
