EAST MONTPELIER, VT

Marjorie Rebmann, 80, died on July 4, 2024 at Heaton Woods in Montpelier, Vermont.

She was born on March 22, 1944 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Maggie was the daughter of Josephine Corboy and Donald McConnell, whose U.S. Army career brought the family to Camp Hakata, Japan, near the southern city of Fukuoka soon after Japan's surrender to the Allied Powers in 1945. His career also had them stationed at numerous posts in the U.S. throughout Maggie's youth, requiring her to change schools often and forego lasting friendships.

Some years after marrying and having three children, she entered Framingham State College as a night student. She graduated six years later with a bachelor's degree in English. Following that, she entered Andover Newton Theological School to study for ministry as a Unitarian Universalist minister. In 1981, her MDiv in hand, Maggie was called to the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, where she served as the church's first female pastor until her retirement in 2008.

During a sabbatical as a Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School, she met her future husband of nearly thirty-five years, Richard Rebmann. Maggie loved her church community, and they loved her in return, making hers their third-longest ministry. Her preaching became known and revered throughout the denomination, and she was repeatedly asked to be Minister of the Week at Star Island, where prior, there had been a strict rule against inviting any minister more than once. Although receiving multiple invitations to candidate for ministerial positions in much larger churches, she never entertained them, wishing instead to remain with the congregation she knew and loved.

She delighted in her many animals, including dogs, cats, goats, ducks, and chickens. Maggie's friends and parishioners have described her as smart, compassionate, funny, kind, warm, inclusive, and loving, which she most certainly was. Maggie was also a devoted and loving wife, mother and mother-in-law, sister and sister-in-law, daughter, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

She is survived by her husband Richard of East Montpelier, Vermont; her son John and wife Rosaria Hollovary, of Bellingham, Massachusetts; daughters Susan Reilly of Reston, Virginia; Camille Pangburn of Burlington, Kentucky; Araceli Rebmann of East Montpelier, Vermont; stepson Coy Rebmann of Lihue, Hawaii; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; her brother Brian and his wife Eileen McConnell of Shakopee, Minnesota; and sister Tina Thompson of Tallahassee, Florida.

Those who wish to honor Maggie may make a contribution in her memory to the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. A memorial service is planned at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier in the near future.

Those wishing to express online condolences may do so at www.guareandsons.com.