I admired Marianne.
I liked the way she:
Led me to answers
vs. imposed her version of the truth upon me.
Gave time and energy, to friends and her causes,
out of proportion to her means.
Embraced a broad range of personality types,
across race, class, education and income.
Looked, listened, learned and than offered her opinions.
Spoke of her children, with pride and love.
She adored her daughter, and Al's memorial notice indicates
reciprocity.
It is good to hear that Marianne was cared for, by her daughter,
in her final weeks.
She loved her son.
When my husband learned his company was sending him to Japan for
two weeks,
Marianne sent the following note to me,
I hope your husband enjoys his trip to Japan.
My son majored in Japanese and international relations in
college.
He spent his sophomore year over there:
living with two families in Kyoto;
a couple of weeks traveling throughout the country,
mostly by hitchhiking and public transportation;
several months working for the Japan Times
while living at a traditional Japanese inn in Tokyo; and
3 months at a Japanese university.
He had a blast!
Marianne's note reassured Larry and I and helped us feel
adventure and
a share in the human experience of travel and extended horizons.
There have been many losses in the last year.
Some, like the passing of Duane Ball, are marked publicly with song,
dance and celebration and privately with enormous pain.
Others, like the trees cut down at SFDS are memorialized in protest and
alternative plantings.
Vandals, seem to be targeting property, and those losses are met with
resistance and a determination to catch the perpetrators and stop the
action.
New stories like the one about the child killed for causing a motorist a
small delay leave there mark on strangers.
Marianne, or her family, have chosen a venue that seems to suit her
quiet, forthright way.
Saturday, July 28, at 2:00 PM at the
Philadelphia Ethical Society
1906 Rittenhouse Square
I will try to be there.
Meanwhile, I will shore up my good memories of Marianne, and remind
myself of my good fortune in being connected with her.
I am making a choice, to hear her name as a blessing and not a reminder
of
regret, for not knowing or doing more during her passing, or
the loss to me, Clark Park, our neighborhood or her family.
Rest in peace Marianne.
I'll keep your family, friends and admirers in my prayers.
Best!
Liz
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 09:14:37 EDT [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Marianne Das, a 50-year resident of University City, passed away earlier
this month at age 77. She had been ailing for a few months, and was
diagnosed in June with lung cancer that had metastasized elsewhere in her
system. Marianne spend her last few weeks with her daughter, while she
was undergoing radiation therapy. She died peacefully in her sleep.
Some of the younger residents of the area may remember her as active in
Friends of Clark Park, an interest she developed from the pleasure she
derived from that facility while she was raising her son and daughter.
When the FoCP website was moribund, Marianne stepped up to the plate and
learned some HTML so she could start and run the organization's on-line
bulletin board, independently of the website. She also worked the polls
during elections -- at the Fairfax location for many years and along with
me at the SHCA clubhouse during the time I was Judge of Elections in the
14th Division.
Longer-term neighbors will remember Marianne from involvement in
community affairs spanning the 50-plus years she was here -- as a renter
and then a homeowner. She was always willing to lend a hand when anyone
needed her, and her insights were valuable in planning as well as in
promoting a wide range of programs (not to mention keeping some of my own
wilder notions in check).
A memorial service is scheduled for this coming Saturday, July 28, at
2:00 pm at the Philadelphia Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square (1906
Rittenhouse Sq -- near the southwest corner).
Al Krigman
130-daffodils
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