The daughter of George Willemsen and Emily Mardos Willemsen, Marion was born in New York, NY in 1922. She and Jack married in 1946, while living in Beechhurst, Queens NY, and raised their family in Ossining, NY, while Jack worked as an art director at Time & Life. They were married for 63 years.
In 2014, she had relocated to California to be closer to her family. Always active, and a role model for many, she continued socializing, baking, working out at the gym, and driving into her latest years until she had suffered a fall on March 3 of this year.
Known for her prodigious creative energy in making a home life for her family, Marion was the force that kept the generations together. She was a consummate decorator, gardener and hostess. She succeeded at quilt making, basketry, and, especially, flower arranging for which she received multiple blue ribbons. One of her trademark recipes, among many, was her sour cream cake.
A member of the First Congregation Church of Harwich, Marion volunteered much of her time to the church Thrift Shop. Together with Jack, she volunteered at the Food Pantry and Meals on Wheels, while Jack gifted monumental murals to his church.
She and Jack, who was a well-known Cape artist and art instructor on “Jack’s Place” his show on Cape Cod public access television, circulated among a large group of life-long friends and traveled widely.
Marion is survived by her two sons, Jeffrey of San Rafael, CA and Brian of El Prado, NM, her son-in-law, Ed Galvez of San Rafael, her niece Sally Willemsen of Sacramento, CA and eight other nieces and nephews.
Burial service will be held at Island Pond Cemetery, Harwich at noon on April 17. In lieu of flowers donations in Marion’s memory can be made to the Mass Audubon – Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
