Marcia Diane Rosser Staley

April 15, 1940 September 17 2013

Marcia Diane Staley, 73, passed away on Tuesday September 17, 2013 in Hanford ,California surrounded by her loving family.

Marcia leaves to cherish her memory, her daughter, Patricia Staley Felts, son James Dean Staley, grandchildren, Veronica Felts, Ricky Felts, Patrick Felts, Raymond Carpenter, Elizabeth Errico, Leighanna Staley, Clorissa Staley, Robert JD Staley and many beloved nieces and nephews. She also leaves many memories with her lifelong friends from her years of service at Jefferson Elementary School as well as the countless friends of her children and grandchildren that she fed, chauffeured and loved as her own over many years.

She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Francis and Vida Rosser, her sisters, Margie Ferreira , Donna Lopiccolo, Linda Nelson and her son Robert Dean Staley.

Marcia was born in Bakersfield, California on April 15, 1940. As a child she lived in Bakersfield, Coalinga, and Hanford. She said her daddy was a roughneck and he worked in the oil fields. They moved wherever there was work.

She attended Jordon High School in Long Beach, California and on December 21, 1957 she married Harold Ray Staley. They had three children, Patricia, Robert and James.

Harold’s career was in the U.S. Navy, so Marcia cared for her family as she braved new places and strange surroundings. As a Navy wife, while her husband served in other countries or aboard a ship, she had to raise her children as a single parent for many years. In 1969 the family settled in Hanford, California. Her home was open to all children. She was a den mother and her living room became a meeting place for her sons’ and nephew’s Cub Scout troop. Her kitchen became a school where the neighborhood girls gathered each week for cooking lessons focused on using ingredients purchased on a tight budget.

Marcia began volunteering at Jefferson Elementary School in 1973 and in 1975 she began her career as a resource teacher’s assistant. Her friends and co-workers remember her as a loving spirit who did more work than was ever required. She credited them with some of her fondest memories and for getting her through the darkest times in her life.

Marcia became a certified nursing assistant in 1982 and she also worked for the Hanford Sentinel. Those were her summer jobs.

She loved singing and dancing, her dogs, T-bone steaks, spam burritos, her flower garden and laughing loudly. She devoted her life to her family and friends. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

A Celebration of Marcia Diane Staley’s Life Service will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at the Caruthers United Methodist Church; 2359 W. Superior, Caruthers, CA.