Marcia Marguerite Barnes died peacefully on March 15, 2018, at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
She was 69. Marcia was born on Sept. 18, 1948, to Bill and Mary Thompson in Pampa, Texas.
She attended high school in Broken Arrow, Okla., and attended University of Tulsa and University of Northern Colorado.
She lived in many states in the Lower 48, primarily working in the vocational rehabilitation field as a counselor for the deaf, hard of hearing and blind, but she dreamed of moving to Alaska one day.
She achieved that dream in 1985.
After being hired by the Vocational Rehabilitation office, she traveled north from Colorado to Anchorage, Alaska, with her 14-year-old daughter Jennifer and their dog, Pepper.
Besides her work, she quickly jumped into volunteering and brought her love and advocacy skills to the deaf, blind, disabled, mental health, LGBTQ and underserved communities.
She retired from the Alaska Center for Blind and Deaf Adults in the early 1990s, but continued to volunteer, most recently with the Alaska Literacy Program.
Marcia excelled as a seamstress, also enjoying needlework and huck embroidery.
She was spiritually engaged, and loved to learn from different cultures, having particular interest in Celtic and Tibetan cultures.
She loved to sing and, in later years, was delighted to discover Sacred Harp singing with her partner Richard.
She was a voracious reader, especially of science fiction, and joined her friend, Mel, in becoming a major Doctor Who aficionado.
She loved cooking, people and the many dogs and cats who shared her home over the years, including: Pepper, Gandalf, Shadee, George, Kimmee, Pauli and Stoney.
Marcia was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Mary (nee Reilly) Thompson.
She leaves behind her brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Mary (Eileen) Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Jake Stallsworth of Keizer, Ore.; her granddaughter, Sidonia Simpson of Salem, Ore., and grandson, Cyrus Simpson of Keizer, Ore.; her nephew and niece-in-law, Christopher and Michelle Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her partner, Richard Anderson of Anchorage; her best friend, Melissa "Mel" S. Green of Anchorage; and numerous friends near and far. We miss her incredibly.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 2311 Pembroke Street (off 24th Avenue and Boniface) in Anchorage.
For further information contact Melissa Green, 907-250-1576.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alaska Literacy Program, http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org/; or the American Cancer Society.
Memories may be shared at Cremation Society of Alaska, http://www.alaskacremation.com/.
Funeral Home
Cremation Society of Alaska
7216 Lake Otis Parkway
Anchorage, AK 99507
907-277-2777
Published in Anchorage Daily News on Mar. 25, 2018
She was 69. Marcia was born on Sept. 18, 1948, to Bill and Mary Thompson in Pampa, Texas.
She attended high school in Broken Arrow, Okla., and attended University of Tulsa and University of Northern Colorado.
She lived in many states in the Lower 48, primarily working in the vocational rehabilitation field as a counselor for the deaf, hard of hearing and blind, but she dreamed of moving to Alaska one day.
She achieved that dream in 1985.
After being hired by the Vocational Rehabilitation office, she traveled north from Colorado to Anchorage, Alaska, with her 14-year-old daughter Jennifer and their dog, Pepper.
Besides her work, she quickly jumped into volunteering and brought her love and advocacy skills to the deaf, blind, disabled, mental health, LGBTQ and underserved communities.
She retired from the Alaska Center for Blind and Deaf Adults in the early 1990s, but continued to volunteer, most recently with the Alaska Literacy Program.
Marcia excelled as a seamstress, also enjoying needlework and huck embroidery.
She was spiritually engaged, and loved to learn from different cultures, having particular interest in Celtic and Tibetan cultures.
She loved to sing and, in later years, was delighted to discover Sacred Harp singing with her partner Richard.
She was a voracious reader, especially of science fiction, and joined her friend, Mel, in becoming a major Doctor Who aficionado.
She loved cooking, people and the many dogs and cats who shared her home over the years, including: Pepper, Gandalf, Shadee, George, Kimmee, Pauli and Stoney.
Marcia was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Mary (nee Reilly) Thompson.
She leaves behind her brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Mary (Eileen) Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Jake Stallsworth of Keizer, Ore.; her granddaughter, Sidonia Simpson of Salem, Ore., and grandson, Cyrus Simpson of Keizer, Ore.; her nephew and niece-in-law, Christopher and Michelle Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her partner, Richard Anderson of Anchorage; her best friend, Melissa "Mel" S. Green of Anchorage; and numerous friends near and far. We miss her incredibly.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 2311 Pembroke Street (off 24th Avenue and Boniface) in Anchorage.
For further information contact Melissa Green, 907-250-1576.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alaska Literacy Program, http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org/; or the American Cancer Society.
Memories may be shared at Cremation Society of Alaska, http://www.alaskacremation.com/.
Funeral Home
Cremation Society of Alaska
7216 Lake Otis Parkway
Anchorage, AK 99507
907-277-2777
Published in Anchorage Daily News on Mar. 25, 2018
Marcia Marguerite Barnes died peacefully on March 15, 2018, at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
She was 69. Marcia was born on Sept. 18, 1948, to Bill and Mary Thompson in Pampa, Texas.
She attended high school in Broken Arrow, Okla., and attended University of Tulsa and University of Northern Colorado.
She lived in many states in the Lower 48, primarily working in the vocational rehabilitation field as a counselor for the deaf, hard of hearing and blind, but she dreamed of moving to Alaska one day.
She achieved that dream in 1985.
After being hired by the Vocational Rehabilitation office, she traveled north from Colorado to Anchorage, Alaska, with her 14-year-old daughter Jennifer and their dog, Pepper.
Besides her work, she quickly jumped into volunteering and brought her love and advocacy skills to the deaf, blind, disabled, mental health, LGBTQ and underserved communities.
She retired from the Alaska Center for Blind and Deaf Adults in the early 1990s, but continued to volunteer, most recently with the Alaska Literacy Program.
Marcia excelled as a seamstress, also enjoying needlework and huck embroidery.
She was spiritually engaged, and loved to learn from different cultures, having particular interest in Celtic and Tibetan cultures.
She loved to sing and, in later years, was delighted to discover Sacred Harp singing with her partner Richard.
She was a voracious reader, especially of science fiction, and joined her friend, Mel, in becoming a major Doctor Who aficionado.
She loved cooking, people and the many dogs and cats who shared her home over the years, including: Pepper, Gandalf, Shadee, George, Kimmee, Pauli and Stoney.
Marcia was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Mary (nee Reilly) Thompson.
She leaves behind her brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Mary (Eileen) Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Jake Stallsworth of Keizer, Ore.; her granddaughter, Sidonia Simpson of Salem, Ore., and grandson, Cyrus Simpson of Keizer, Ore.; her nephew and niece-in-law, Christopher and Michelle Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her partner, Richard Anderson of Anchorage; her best friend, Melissa "Mel" S. Green of Anchorage; and numerous friends near and far. We miss her incredibly.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 2311 Pembroke Street (off 24th Avenue and Boniface) in Anchorage.
For further information contact Melissa Green, 907-250-1576.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alaska Literacy Program, http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org/; or the American Cancer Society.
Memories may be shared at Cremation Society of Alaska, http://www.alaskacremation.com/.
Funeral Home
Cremation Society of Alaska
7216 Lake Otis Parkway
Anchorage, AK 99507
907-277-2777
Published in Anchorage Daily News on Mar. 25, 2018
She was 69. Marcia was born on Sept. 18, 1948, to Bill and Mary Thompson in Pampa, Texas.
She attended high school in Broken Arrow, Okla., and attended University of Tulsa and University of Northern Colorado.
She lived in many states in the Lower 48, primarily working in the vocational rehabilitation field as a counselor for the deaf, hard of hearing and blind, but she dreamed of moving to Alaska one day.
She achieved that dream in 1985.
After being hired by the Vocational Rehabilitation office, she traveled north from Colorado to Anchorage, Alaska, with her 14-year-old daughter Jennifer and their dog, Pepper.
Besides her work, she quickly jumped into volunteering and brought her love and advocacy skills to the deaf, blind, disabled, mental health, LGBTQ and underserved communities.
She retired from the Alaska Center for Blind and Deaf Adults in the early 1990s, but continued to volunteer, most recently with the Alaska Literacy Program.
Marcia excelled as a seamstress, also enjoying needlework and huck embroidery.
She was spiritually engaged, and loved to learn from different cultures, having particular interest in Celtic and Tibetan cultures.
She loved to sing and, in later years, was delighted to discover Sacred Harp singing with her partner Richard.
She was a voracious reader, especially of science fiction, and joined her friend, Mel, in becoming a major Doctor Who aficionado.
She loved cooking, people and the many dogs and cats who shared her home over the years, including: Pepper, Gandalf, Shadee, George, Kimmee, Pauli and Stoney.
Marcia was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Mary (nee Reilly) Thompson.
She leaves behind her brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Mary (Eileen) Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Jake Stallsworth of Keizer, Ore.; her granddaughter, Sidonia Simpson of Salem, Ore., and grandson, Cyrus Simpson of Keizer, Ore.; her nephew and niece-in-law, Christopher and Michelle Thompson of Jacksonville, Fla.; her partner, Richard Anderson of Anchorage; her best friend, Melissa "Mel" S. Green of Anchorage; and numerous friends near and far. We miss her incredibly.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2018, at 5 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 2311 Pembroke Street (off 24th Avenue and Boniface) in Anchorage.
For further information contact Melissa Green, 907-250-1576.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alaska Literacy Program, http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org/; or the American Cancer Society.
Memories may be shared at Cremation Society of Alaska, http://www.alaskacremation.com/.
Funeral Home
Cremation Society of Alaska
7216 Lake Otis Parkway
Anchorage, AK 99507
907-277-2777
Published in Anchorage Daily News on Mar. 25, 2018
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