Marianne Stewart (born Marianne Reeth) was born February 3rd, 1934 in Queens NY to Anne and Peter Reeth. Peter was a NYC policeman and Anne, a housewife and fashion magazine employee. Due to a medical family situation when Marianne was just seven years old, she was sent to live in a prestigious boarding school, Our Lady of Mercy Academy of Syosset, Long Island. After graduating high school she went to work as a legal secretary for Colt Industries. While working for Colt, she continued her schooling and earned an Associates degree at Queens College. In 1973 a back condition forced her to retire from the workforce. It was shortly after that that she met Russ, the love of her life.
After a three-year courtship, Marianne and Russ married in 1972 and settled in New York (Long Island). Together they raised Patricia Russ’s daughter from a previous marriage from the age of fifteen. With Marianne’s help, Patricia continued the Mercy tradition and she too graduated from Our Lady of Mercy Academy - in 1981. Russ's other child Russell Jr. was raised by his mother who also resided on Long Island and he visited with his Dad and Marianne regularly.
Camping was the passion of Russ and Marianne. It all started with modest tent. In time Russ and Marianne would upgrade to a pop-up, travel trailer, fifth wheel and finally, huge motor homes. They traveled to every state in America including a three month trip to Alaska.
In 1991 Russ retired from his work - teaching. Together they travelled to Arizona in a new 5th-wheel RV exptecting to spend a month or two. They fell in love with the weather and lifestyle of an adult community in Mesa and decided to make this their new home. Russ became immersed in softball, tennis and bowling. Marianne was always at Russ’s side and even participated in bowling. Before her back problem in 1973 she carried an average of 182 in a classic womens’ bowling league. She also performed administrative tasks for the tennis and softball teams. After 18 wonderful years in Mesa as both Russ and Marianne were having some health problems. It was time to move on and their search ended at Freedom Plaza. They hated leaving their beautiful home and friends in Mesa but realized it had to be. From that time, Marianne’s health quickly continued to deteriorate and she suffered from many problems. The last two years were particularly difficult and there were many hospital visits, numerous drugs and much pain. Yet Russ could always get a smile from her and he heard very few complaints.
At last, Marianne, knew it was time to go. All the way to the end, despite her pain, Russ always remained her number one priority. Now Marianne can rest and she has her family's promise that the love of her life will be cared for.