Marguerite Oswald

**Marguerite Oswald** is the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald.

## Historical Figure

### Biography

Marguerite Frances Claverie was born on July 19, 1907, in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1911, her mother died, leaving Marguerite, her three sisters, and brothers Charles and John, in the care of their father, who raised them on a salary of ninety dollars a month, though he had the help of housekeepers. Marguerite attended McDonogh High School, but dropped out in her first year.

In August 1929, while she was working as a receptionist for a New Orleans law firm, Marguerite married Edward John Pic, Jr., a clerk for a stevedoring company. By July 1931, when Marguerite was three months pregnant, they had separated because of irreconcilable differences (according to Pic), though a salient issue was money, as it would be for Marguerite her entire life. Their son, John Edward Pic, was born on January 17, 1932.

Marguerite met a friend of her sister's, a premium collector for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, by the name of Robert Edward Lee Oswald, who was also separated from his wife. Marguerite divorced her husband in 1933, by which time Robert had divorced as well. Six months after Robert's divorce, he married Marguerite on July 20th.

Their first son, Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Jr. (Bobby), was born April 7, 1934. On August 19, 1939, Robert Sr. died of a heart attack. On October 18, 1939, the Oswalds' second son was born at New Orleans' Old French Hospital. He was named Lee after his father.

In 1944, Marguerite moved her family from New Orleans to Dallas, Texas. She later married Edwin A. Ekdahl that year. They separated in 1946, and formally divorced in 1948. After her second divorce, she became known as Marguerite C. Oswald.

In August 1952, Marguerite and Lee moved to New York City, where they lived for a short time with her son, John Pic. Later, Marguerite found a one-room basement apartment and secured a job at Lerner Shops. Lee became truant, and truancy charges were brought against him. Lee was sent to an institution where children underwent psychiatric observation. He stayed from April 16 to May 7, 1953.

When Lee returned to school for the 1953 Fall semester, his disciplinary problems continued, and when Marguerite failed to cooperate with school authorities, the authorities considered placing him in a home for boys. This was postponed, perhaps partially because his behavior abruptly improved. Before the New York family court system could address their case, the Oswalds left New York in January 1954, and returned to New Orleans. Lee finished the ninth grade before he left school to work for a year. In October 1956, he joined the Marines.

Marguerite's disagreeable nature made it nearly impossible for her to maintain a job. She held a variety of positions, including as a legal clerk and telephone operator. One family, that had hired her as a baby nurse, fired her when they began to suspect she was drugging their infant so he would stop crying at night.

On the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Marguerite phoned the offices of the *Fort Worth Star-Telegram* and asked for a ride to Dallas. She was granted this peculiar request after revealing her identity, and the reporter to chauffeur her was Bob Schieffer. Marguerite referred to her son's murder by Jack Ruby as "the tragic event". She also stated to a television camera, *"My son, even after his death, has done more for his country than any other living human being."*

In 1979, the United States House of Representatives Assassinations Committee concluded that President Kennedy’s murder was probably the result of a conspiracy, one possibly involving organized crime, and that Marguerite may have had "personal relationships" with members of the Mafia in her younger days.

After the assassination and subsequent murder of her son, Marguerite maintained her son's innocence and that he was instead an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. She created a shrine in her home to honor his life and military service, and frequently promoted conspiracy theories regarding the assassination. She wrote a booklet titled *"Aftermath of an Execution: The Burial and Final Rites of Lee Harvey Oswald"*, which was never published.

She died on January 17, 1981, aged 73. She is buried beside her son, Lee, at the Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Burial Park in Fort Worth, Texas.

## References

1. ↑ Marguerite Oswald on Wikipedia. Retrieved on September 17, 2019, edited.