Friend and neighbor, Marianne M. Das, departs Marianne M. Das, a longtime resident of Spruce Hill, passed away quietly in her daughter’s home on July 3, 2007. Though a native of Pittsburgh, PA, Marianne moved to South 43rd Street in her mid 20’s and remained committed to and active in a neighborhood she would call home for the next 50 years.
Marianne was born on February 24, 1930 to James Paul and Dolores Amelia (nee Strayer) Scott. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Chemistry and completed graduate coursework as well. She moved to Philadelphia in 1956, and in 1957 met and married Manmatha Kumar Das, then a graduate student at the Wharton School of Business. They had 2 children, Milan Kumar and Dolores Anita (Dolly). Realizing that opportunities for women were limited in her field, Marianne focused her efforts on learning foreign languages. She mastered German and Russian and made her living translating medical texts from those languages in addition to Serbo-Croatian, French, Italian, Czech and Swedish, among others. In the 1980’s she collaborated with the late Stanley M.K. Chung on his book on congenital pediatric hip deformities. Though she worked full-time and raised her children as a single parent, Marianne generously gave her time to community service: in the 1970’s, she was the Democratic Committee Person for her division, and at various times was an active member of the Friends of Clark Park, the Friends of the Free Library and an early participant of both the Mariposa Food Co-op and the neighborhood babysitting co-op; she worked the flea market and book stalls at Spruce Hill Fairs; tutored West Philadelphia High School students in reading and, last year, participated in a program to teach English as a second language to West African women in the neighborhood. She was president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Funeral Consumer’s Alliance. She also served as her block captain for 5 years and, over the course of 30 years, was a poll watcher and election official in her area. Though diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in mid-April, Marianne was determined to make it to the polls and cast her vote in the May primary. Marianne is survived by her 2 children, her grandchildren Anjuli and Alexander of Santa Barbara, CA, her sister and brother-in-law Sarah and Howard Jennings of Virginia Beach, VA, and a niece and nephews. A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the Ethical Society Building, 1906 Rittenhouse Square. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Marianne’s name to Bartram’s Garden, the Friends of the Free Library or the Funeral Consumer’s Alliance of Philadelphia. ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
