Marjorie Bell Sachs

Marjorie “Margie” Bell Sachs died on January 31, 2025 at age 98, though those who met her were hard-pressed to believe her age. She died the way she would have wanted, out with her friends on the way to a ballet, living life to the fullest and on her terms all the way until the end.

Margie was a lifelong Cleveland resident with an immense love for her local community. She attended Shaker Heights High, Case Western Reserve University, and received a Masters of Education from Cleveland State. She served as the Director of Development of the Cleveland JCC for over 16 years, as a counsellor and coordinator for the UH Cancer at Home Rehabilitations Project and, ahead of her time, as one of the first counsellors at Preterm Clinic in the 1970s. She frequented the Cleveland Museum of Art, Playhouse Square and Severance Hall, and until age 98, spent most of her evenings out at local restaurants or events. She was a leader and a staple in the community, evidenced by how rare it was for her to go anywhere without running into multiple people she knew.

While she built a full life in Cleveland, her passion was for travel and learning about new cultures, visiting over 190 countries in her lifetime. Some of her highlights include Papua New Guinea, Antarctica, Botswana, the five Stans of Central Asia, Irianjaya and Zimbabwe, but her most special moments were trips with her family. She passed on her love for travel, taking each of her 3 grandchildren on individual trips to Europe upon their college graduations. Her apartment, her closet and her jewellery were a collector’s heaven of items she brought back from each exotic place she visited.

Margie married Dr. Sidney Sachs in 1950, a surgical oncologist who specialized in diseases of the breast prior to his death in 1981. She never remarried, but built a life for herself based around family, friends, travel, reading, volunteering, socializing, and swimming every morning. She was a role model and an inspiration to all that knew her. May her memory be a blessing.

Grandmargie, as she was known to her family, is survived by her daughter Wendie, son-in-law Tom; son Peter, daughter-in-law Hilary; and her three grandchildren Alyssa (Ben), Jacob (Morgane), and Jamie.

Donations are suggested in her memory to: The Musical Arts Association of Cleveland and The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be left at www.bkbmc.com for the Sachs family.

Arrangements under the direction of Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel (216) 932-7900.