Marcella Smith Stull

Marcella Stull passed away in Pacific Grove, CA, on April 10, 2016. A role model, matriarch, naturalist, artist, voracious reader, avid hiker and family historian, she truly took every day and polished it!

Marcella, the youngest daughter of Mark P. and Nellie Connor Smith, was born in Gilroy, CA, on January 17th, 1923, and was raised on a ranch by her parents, along with her sisters Marion Smith Brewer and Roberta Smith Hampton. At the age of 16, she enrolled at San Jose State where she met her future husband, Judson Taylor Stull. They were married on March 13, 1943, just prior to his commissioning in the Navy and service in World War II and the Korean War. After graduation, Marcella took her first teaching job in San Martin, CA.

Marcella loved the entire Monterey Peninsula from her arrival in Carmel in 1947 until her death in Pacific Grove. In between, she and her family lived in the canyons of John Steinbeck’s Red Pony, Monterey, Carmel, and Carmel Valley before residing at Forest Hill Manor in Pacific Grove for the past 14 years. Her second home was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Stull family camped in the Sierras almost yearly before they found the cabin at Huntington Lake. She spent many a summer exploring high Sierra trails and their wildflowers, passing on her knowledge and love to her grandchildren.

Marcella was foremost an educator who worked as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, and principal over the course of her long working life. In retirement, Marcella pursued her love of learning through classes, extensive travel, and community involvement. She was a strong supporter of the Steinbeck House in Salinas, American Field Service (AFS), and P.E.O. (Chapter EU, Salinas), a philanthropic educational organization that promotes educational opportunities for women. She indulged her love of people and the outdoors until she was 90 years old with a group of women who called themselves the ‘Walkers and Talkers’. This active group walked all over Monterey County, the Central Coast, the central Sierra Nevadas, and the Cotswolds in England.

Marcella was predeceased by her husband Judson and daughter Jane Ketcham, and is survived by her son Mark, daughter-in law Jill Stull, and son-in-law Frank Ketcham; four grandchildren, Brannon Ketcham, Caroline Ketcham Perciaccante, Whitney Stull Chiu, and Jonathan Stull; and six great grandchildren, Elliot and Liam Perciaccante, Finley and Jackson Ketcham, and Cooper and Ramsey Stull; as well as dear nephews and nieces and their children.

Memorial Services will be held at Forest Hill Manor, Pacific Grove, at 1:30 on May 7th. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Friends of the Pacific Grove Library, Point Reyes National Seashore Association, and P.E.O. International.