Marilyn Oldham

Marilyn grew up in a closely knit family, which was made so by her father’s service in the Air Force. They moved frequently for his assignments, living briefly in Libya, several years in Germany, and all over the United States. They eventually settled in Northern Virgina, where she finished high school. She entered the Architecture program at Carnegie Mellon University in 1967, where she met and later married her husband, Nicholas Fusco. A few years later she earned a Masters in Architecture from the University of Michigan. In 1979, she entered the doctoral program in Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University. While there, she earned three Masters degrees, including one in Japanese language. She also received a scholarship to study in Japan, which was preparation for her research. She won a Fulbright Fellowship for two years of dissertation research in Japan. Later, she received a Master of Philosophy.

Marilyn worked in architecture, planning, and in anthropology research offices. She earned a Certificate of Landscape Design from the NY Botanical Gardens and worked as a landscape designer for several years.

In her spare time, she helped with costuming for Children’s Theater, coached Destination Imagination teams, and led a Girl Scout Troop. She was a print-making and ceramics artist who dedicated many hours to learning her craft.

Her love was reading and learning. She was a member of the WNBC (Wednesday Night Book Club), where she engaged with her fellow readers to probe the depths of what the heck the author meant.

She is deeply missed by her immediate and extended family. She is survived by her husband, three daughters, and one granddaughter. She is also survived by four brothers, eleven nieces and nephews, and eight grand nieces and nephews.