Marjorie Esther Hacker

MARJORIE ESTHER (GOULD) HACKER, 95, passed silently in her sleep on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, while residing in her apartment at Kingston at Dupont. She was the loving wife of Paul Thomas Hacker; he preceded her in death in 1998. Born April 12, 1919, in Detroit, Mich., she was the daughter of the late Frank Wesley Gould and Christie (DeLeeuw) Gould. She was raised in Fort Wayne and was an honors graduate student at South Side High School. She spent five years employed at Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and attended Indiana University extension, in Fort Wayne. Later, she attended Ohio University extension in Cleveland. She was active in Beta Sigma Chi, Grace Dodge Society and Mixer Council of Y.W.C.A. She was married in 1942 to Paul T. Hacker in Fort Wayne at Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church. Paul was a meteorologist at the Fort Wayne Weather Bureau. They spent World War II at the University of Chicago where Paul was an U.S. Army Air Corp officer doing meteorological research, and Marj worked at the Federal Life Insurance Company. Their daughter Christina was born there on June 6, 1945. After World War II, they moved to the Cleveland area where their son Jonathan was born on Feb. 19, 1952, and Paul worked as a Research Scientist at NASA. They spent many happy years in Strongsville, Ohio, where she enjoyed school, church, Junior League, and book clubs. She volunteered with the Red Cross, the League of Woman Voters, the United Methodist Church and as a librarian for 25 years at the local Ohio Veterans Hospital. They built a retirement home in Belle Vista, Ark., and enjoyed traveling the world. Marj and Paul returned to Fort Wayne in 1994 and spent the remaining years close to family and old friends. She is survived by her daughter, the Reverend Christina Kay (James) Fitch; son, Jonathan Paul (Catherine) Hacker; and four grandchildren, Ford Fitch and Katrina Fitch, both of Bella Vista, Ark. Jenna Tackett of Fort Wayne, and Thomas Hacker of Encinitas Calif. Funeral service is 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, at Hockemeyer- Miller Funeral Home, 6131 St. Joe Road, Fort Wayne, with calling one hour prior. Calling also from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. Graveside service is 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan., 24, 2015, at Hill Dale Cemetery, Martinsville, Ind. Memorials to the IPFW scholarship fund.