Nancy Marsters

Nancy L. Marsters, a composer, author and nationally recognized music educator, died after a long illness on May 28, 2026, at the age of 88. She was surrounded by friends and family at her home in Tallahassee, Florida.

Nancy met her closest and dearest friend - Ann Megargee - at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Tallahassee in 1972. In the decades that followed the Marsters and Megargee families became extremely close. So close, in fact, that the Marsters and Megargee children merged and started referring to themselves as the “Megarsters” family, a tradition that exists to this day.

Nancy mastered many musical instruments, including the guitar, piano, ukulele, steel drum and the Japanese koto. She would go on to spend her life sharing her passion for music with generations of students and churchgoers in the Tallahassee area.

She worked at Leon High School 1977 until her retirement in 1996. While at Leon, Nancy taught choral music and piano and formed the school’s steel drum band.

Nancy also started a 20-student guitar class at Leon and co-wrote and published a series of textbooks designed not only to teach guitar, but also to encourage at-risk students to stay in school. The series has been wildly successful across the nation for decades.

She developed and directed a music program at Blessed Sacrament Church that included individuals from the age of seven to adulthood. Nancy started that program in 1972 and led it for eight years.

The popularity of her Blessed Sacrament folk choir, which featured middle-school and high-school students, led Nancy to write and release two record albums featuring those singers: “Follow” and “Behold.” Both albums were performed live at Blessed Sacrament and had enthusiastic receptions from audiences across the area.

Nancy was born in Newport, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 1937, to Bruce and Dorothy (Wirfs) Groth. She was raised in Lincoln City, OR, and attended Willamette University, graduating with a degree in music education in 1958. She studied guidance and counseling at Southern Illinois University in 1964. Nancy earned her master’s degree in musicology from Florida State University in 1982. Her master’s degree had an emphasis on ethnomusicology and the history of the first black Catholic gospel choir in the United States.

Nancy is survived by her dearest friend Ann (Piemonte) Megargee, her son David S. Marsters and his wife RuthAnn McKinney, her son Michael C. Marsters, her daughter Nancy L. (Marsters) and her husband Jeff Carr, and the Megargee siblings: Elyn (Megargee) and her husband Ken Macek, Edwin (Ned) Megargee Jr., Christopher and his wife Tiffany (Giesler) Megargee, and Steve Megargee along with dozens of nieces, nephews, 16 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren, and eight great-great grandchildren.

She also is survived by her brother Paul and Sister Mollie (Klahn). She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Mary (Groth) Hays.

A funeral mass and internment will be held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church July 9, 2026. A reception will be held at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, (700 Timberlane Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32312) beginning at 6:00 PM on July 9, 2026.