Marion Kaltreider

YORK Marion Louise Sterling Kaltreider died Friday, November 21 at the Barbara J. Egan Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Shrewsbury. She was born May 26, 1926, in Linglestown, the youngest of five children of Harriet Rebecca Fulton Sterling and John Weaver Sterling. Raised in an equestrian family, she loved riding from the age of 3 and began showing horses at age 5. Marion attended Lower Paxton High School for one year, and graduated from William Penn High School in 1944. Beginning in high school in York, she showed horses for Col. Mahlon Haines and James T. Duffy, Jr., winning the Green Hunter Championship at Devon, PA in 1944, when she was photographed for Life Magazine. That portrait, with derby hat and huge silver cup, was never published because of wartime paper restrictions, but Marion continued showing and went on to instruct riding for most of her life, especially enjoying teaching children. She married Walter Howard Kaltreider, Jr. on December 5, 1949, and moved to the Seven Acres neighborhood of new homes developed by her husband and father-in-law. There she had easy access to a barn and pastures where she kept hunting horses, and later trained a western cutting horse, aptly named "Diversified" to perform dressage, a ballet-like form of riding. Some of her "horsey" friends were diversified themselves, enjoying snow and water skiing, camping, travel and more, but horses were Marion's first and favorite passion. For her, travel was best if it was to a "horsey" place like Southern Pines, N.C., and her longest trip was to Vienna to see a performance by the famous Lipizzaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School. In the fifties and sixties, she was often featured in newspaper photos with family and friends to promote the York Horse Show and other equestrian events, sometimes posing with her twin sons. An avid foxhunter, she was a member of both Beaufort and Rose Tree hunt clubs. Later in life, Marion's riding and travel interests converged on the Montana home of her son, Ed, where she enjoyed the beautiful scenery and made new friends. Her deep interest in horses, along with her easygoing ways, made friendship easy for her. Marion was preceded in death by her husband; brothers and sister: Donald James Sterling, Eunice Sterling Nagle, John Ross Sterling and William Lloyd Sterling. Her burial will be at the convenience of the family. She is survived by her twin sons and their families: Ed Sterling Kaltreider of Livingston, MT; Fred Sterling and Mary Flood Kaltreider of Dover, DE; grandchildren, Tyler Ross Kaltreider of York, James Sterling Kaltreider of San Francisco, Mary Clark Kaltreider and husband Miguel Batiz of Crofton, Md.; and Jack Kaltreider of Bainbridge Island, WA. Marion's friend and caregiver, Nancy Lau of Loganville, leads a host of friends and family, including the Noll clan of Dallastown, Red Lion and beyond, and the Sterling and Nagle families, who are grateful to have known and loved Marion. Nancy often read the York newspapers to Marion, who, as many older people, took a special interest in the obituaries. She used to ask, "Now I'm not in there, am I?" and they would laugh. The John W. Keffer Funeral Homes and Crematory, Inc., East York, is assisting the family. KefferFH.com