Marion E. Boyer, former Lakesider, has died

We were saddened to get a phone call from Jim Boyer last night telling us his dear Marion had died of ALS May 16.  I don’t remember exactly the year, but I know the place where I met Marion.  It was in the Green Room (now Chautauqua Hall) of the Fountain Inn at Lakeside.  We discovered chatting before the lecture began that we were both librarians.  “Marion the Librarian,” how often she must have heard that line from the musical, The Music Man, but she laughed anyway. She and Jim had the sweetest, tiniest cottage.  We loved going there and sitting on their porch. Jim and Bob were on the Design Review Board together, so instead of just the wives knowing each other, we were a couple friendship. Many breakfasts together at the Patio and over in Marblehead. It’s so hard to lose a friend, especially to such a terrible disease. Her final days were grim, but she stay alert and active until her final illness, pneumonia made her too weak. Karen “Happy” Day, also a Lakesider, died about 5 years ago of this disease.

“With God's help and with courage, Marion Elizabeth Boyer, age 77, battled ALS until her death on May 16, 2020. Marion was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She graduated from King's Collage, Canada's oldest university, established in 1789. She met her husband Jim, when he was an exchange student from Muskingum College at Kings. Marion earned a fifth year education degree from Dalhousie University and began her teaching career at historic Chebucto School in Halifax. The school's basement served as a makeshift morgue for Titanic victims. After studying at OSU and UT, Marion received an Ohio school librarian certification. She spent most of her 35 year teaching career as a school librarian and reading teacher at Northwood Middle School. Surviving are her husband, Jim; daughter, Lori Boyer Gow, Eddie Gow and two cousins living in Canada.

After retirement, Marion was actively involved in a number of organizations. She was a lifetime member of the Lucas County Retired Teachers Association where she was on the Board of Directors, was editor of the Slate, a monthly newsletter, association secretary, and chair of a program awarding scholarships to college students with financial need who demonstrated outstanding potential as teachers. She volunteered in the Toledo Hospital Gift Shop and directed the Flower Hospital Auxiliary High School speech contest. For a number of years, she was a judge of the First Lego Contest at the former DeVilbiss High School.

Marion enjoyed summers in Nova Scotia and at their cottage in the Chautauqua community of Lakeside, Ohio. As a member of the Lakeside Woman's Club she was in charge of the annual Tour of Homes. Marion is a 2014 graduate of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, the oldest continuous book club in America, formed in 1897 to support adult education. Each winter, she and Jim enjoyed Road Scholar trips to warmer states. So she could vote in support of progressive causes, Marion became a naturalized United States citizen in 1982. At St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Marion served on altar guild and was a Lay Eucharistic Visitor.

A service will be held at a later date. Ashes will be interred in St. Michael's memorial garden and All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Halifax. Memorial donations may be made to the Northern Ohio Chapter of the ALS Association, 6155 Rockside Rd., Suite 403, Independence, Ohio 44131.”

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/toledoblade/obituary.aspx?pid=196211449