Marcie Ann Summers

It is with a profound sense of loss that we acknowledge the recent death of Marcie Ann Summers in Vancouver, BC on June 12, 2021. Marcie was born in Pocatello, Idaho on September 29, 1949 to John and Eva Grossman. Predeceased by her parents and sister Diane, Marcie’s absence will be felt deeply by her long-time partner Luke Blackstone; her son Nicholas Bell; his wife Allison; their three young children, Charlotte, Catherine and Henry; Luke's family and Marcie's friends and former colleagues. There is so much to say about her full life that touched so many.

Luke's unflagging support of Marcie as her health declined during the past challenging years was a gift for which her friends and family are so grateful. Her son, Nicholas Bell her dear childhood friend, Cynthia Lyman and long-time friend and colleague, Linda Parsons were also able to be with her during the last days of her life.

Her friends know that it was one of the happiest days of Marcie’s life when she heard that Nicholas and his family would be relocating to Canada from the eastern US when he accepted the position of President & CEO of the Calgary Glenbow Museum. Marcie was incredibly proud, both of his career accomplishments and of Nicholas as a person. His family, wife Allison, and their trio of adorable redheaded Bells were a constant source of joy to her.

Marcie was equally proud of the vision and creative accomplishments of her partner Luke Blackstone, a highly regarded kinetic sculptor, whose public art commissions grace numerous sites in Canada and the US.

Marcie had many gifts and talents, but perhaps her greatest was her gift for friendship. Marcie’s enduring relationship with her childhood friend Cynthia Lyman was a touchstone for them both. Their shared history began in Pocatello where they were raised and from which they escaped to Canada in the 70's, in a bold move that was both a repudiation of the American political and military machine well as a chance to build their lives in their own vision. Marcie worked for a time as a northern Alberta teacher, eventually moving to Victoria, BC where she continued to teach in an alternative school, Sundance. There she formed other lifelong friendships through her activist and feminist involvements. Key among these were the "Pisces group", members of which sustained one another through life’s challenges at regular hilarious and legendary Gulf Islands’ cottage retreats. Marcie, as the only non-Pisces was a founding, pivotal member of the Pisces group.

In 1981, as a single parent, Marcie along with Cynthia decamped for Vancouver where her career and personal life’s ambitions were more than fulfilled. She met Luke in 1986, who immediately received the "Pisces seal of approval", and he became an integral, sustaining part of Marcie’s and Nicholas’s lives.

In Vancouver, Marcie put her strong political and feminist beliefs into action, initially as Executive Director of Big Sisters of BC and then within the shelter system for women fleeing violence before she turned to HIV advocacy in 1986. She was a volunteer for AIDS Vancouver doing HIV education work when she and a few other women imagined a support organization designed for the safety, dignity, and empowerment of women living with HIV. That vision evolved into Positive Women’s Network (PWN), a BC-based HIV support organization specifically for cis and trans women (in itself unusual at the time). PWN was operational from 1991-2017. PWN was one of only two women-specific organizations in Canada; Voices of Positive Women in Toronto was the other. Marcie was PWN’s Executive Director from 1993-2015 when she retired. It was a heartbreak for her when the organization to which she had been so dedicated closed its doors in 2017.

Marcie was an integral part of the creation in 1996 of the Pacific AIDS Network (PAN), serving as a founding volunteer, a long-time board member, Chair, and Co-Chair over the many years of her involvement. She was also a long-serving board member of CATIE, Canada’s Source for HIV and Hepatitis C Information. As a PAN board member and as ED of PWN she was a significant champion of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI), encouraging women to explore their leadership goals. She also worked on many advocacy and policy initiatives – bringing to bear her tremendous passion for social justice. Marcie was also a founding member of the Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS in 2006, a comprehensive strategy to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic among women and girls (including trans women) globally. She worked on many advocacy and policy initiatives, bringing to bear her tremendous passion for social justice.

Marcie received many awards for her dedication and significant achievements, and her contribution to the work and the sector spanned many years. As an insistent and passionate feminist voice, she had to fight for acknowledgement of the concerns of women living with HIV and for their perspective and voices to be included. Finally, she was a support, mentor and friend to many people in the movement who have gone on to become advocates and leaders themselves. She was, in short, an icon.

Marcie supported her friends in so many ways and as the most entertaining of personalities. Her wicked sense of humour and storytelling abilities were amazing, as was her intellect, generosity, compassion and humility. The saddest aspect of this past year and a half of Covid was the inability of her many friends to visit with her. In addition to the daily comfort of Luke and Cynthia, she was sustained by her friend Linda Parsons' dropped-off meals, by phone calls with Linda Proudfoot, Michaela Baer, Ginny Ware, and other friends and by her long-distance contact with Nicholas and her grandchildren. She was thrilled that Nicholas was recording their conversations about her life. She was a prolific reader and movie-goer. Her love of nature and time spent hiking and camping was a great loss as her illness progressed. She loved dogs and Luna was the latest in a long string of beloved canines, remembered by her as fondly as any departed family member would be. Marcie and Luke shared a deep and quiet love and respect for one another, sharing many road and camping trips together with their various dogs. As Marcie began to experience some physical limitations, Luke used his creative ingenuity and skill to make various adjustments to their home and camping equipment to enable her to live and vacation comfortably.

Marcie was truly special, a brightly burning spirit who overcome many challenges in her life, remaining courageous and hopeful in the face of declining health and continuing to reach out to others. Hers was a life lived with passion and integrity, a life to truly be admired and celebrated. She leaves an indelible legacy on her family and friends, on all those who were fortunate to come into her orbit. She left us far too soon and she will be greatly missed by many but her star continues to shine in all our hearts.