Marcia Erica Greaves Shaw, affectionately known as Maya, was born on March 11th, 1951 at the Samuel Grimes Center - Miss Moore’s Hospital - in Kakata, Liberia. She was the first child of the union of her parents Joetta Hall Greaves and William Edward Greaves, but at the time of her birth, Marcia became the newest baby sister to Samuel, Tina, Elwood, Marjorie, Milton, Momsie, Waldron and Joyce. Then Ethan and Wilma followed, and Ken made the siblings twelve. As a child, she didn’t like to eat and her older siblings were often tasked with feeding her. Milton would feed her one spoonful but then take the next for himself and they would laugh when their little game tricked her mother into thinking she had eaten all of her food. She loved chicken, though! She once asked her parents for a whole chicken to eat by herself as a birthday present. Her father would say “If it left with you, you will even eat the chicken head!” Her nickname came about when, as a toddler, she couldn’t say ‘Marcia’ and began calling herself Maya. And, this wasn’t the only time she would change her name - early documents reflect the new middle name she chose for herself, as she refused to even utter the one her parents gave her. A preview, perhaps, of how she would continue to forge her own path.
Growing up in Brewerville, outside Liberia’s capital of Monrovia, she went to Lott Carey Baptist Mission School with Rosie Williams (Bryant). Always the dux of the class with Fatu Brown (Pearl Bull), Maya earned a “double promotion,” as they used to say, and skipped a grade. At STC, Saint Teresa’s Convent, she joined classmates Alyce Holder (Anderson), Cynthia Garber (Howard) and many other “Friskies,” as the Saints students were called. Always together, Maya, Fatu Kroma (Clarke) and Abey Urey were “the Three Musketeers.”
Graduating high school at the age of 16 made her one of the youngest on campus when she went to Cuttington University in 1968. Maie Karmo and Fatu Freeman were her “big sisters,” tasked to help her navigate college, and it was there that she began dating the love of her life, Emanuel Shaw II. Maya and Emanuel had crossed paths a few years before and they got engaged, married and were expecting their first child before she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from L.U., the University of Liberia.
Maya made friends easily, and kept them! Many relationships she nurtured and cherished for over 50 years. You’ve already heard of a few, and now, a few more...Marina Howard (Kromah), Loris Lawrence (Shannon), Blamo Nyekan (Lawson), Beryline Phelps (Togba) Ellen Crayton, Christine Snetter (Dick), Elouise Richardson (Sirleaf) and Adah Taylor (Clarke)... This long list of close friends saw Maya and Emanuel standing with over 30 friends, flower girls and page boys at their wedding! The Reverend Father J. Dwalu Kimba and The Very Reverend Dr. George Daniel Brown, the Episcopal Bishop of Liberia, officiated the ceremony at her father’s church, St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Camp Johnson Road. After they married in 1971, the couple moved to England with their young family.
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Marcia and Emanuel were married for 30 years and raised 5 children together: Elma, Eugene, Lionel, Lamelle and Eunese. One of their priorities and greatest joys was instilling in their children that there is life beyond any border - that there is always more to learn, more to see, and more to love. As circumstances and their travels took the family to countries like England, France, Ghana, America, Switzerland, Kenya and South Africa, among others, they emphasized that experiencing the world firsthand was more than could be gleaned from any textbook.
Marcia started her career as a Personal Assistant at the Liberian National Airline then worked as the Senior Administrative Assistant for WARDA, the West African Rice and Development Agency. She later joined one of Liberia’s largest management consulting firms as Real Estate Manager and Vice President before following her passion for entrepreneurship. Marcia had trained in the field of travel and tourism in Bournemouth, England and earned a diploma with distinction in 1978. Her studies laid the foundation for her first company, Maya Travel & Services Agency, which she founded in 1986 after they returned to Liberia. Transforming the landscape of the country’s travel industry, her agency became the first local service & handling agent for international companies - previously limited to international airline companies. Recognized by Liberia’s Tourist Board, Maya Travel became the official agent for the 1988 Olympic Games.
In 1990, fleeing the Liberian civil war, they went back to England. Never one to remain idle, Marcia obtained her MBA from Huron University in London and the family moved to Florida in 1992. While in the U.S. she followed her true passion and started another company, Image Africa, where she curated art that celebrated and educated on the culture, beauty and relevance of Africa. Image Africa art pieces feature prominently in scores of homes and offices around the world, and her work has also been displayed at theLiberian presidential mansion. Driven by the fact that her children were growing up away from her home country, Marcia wrote and published Memories of Liberia, a dictionary of Liberian colloqua and popular phrases.
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Marcia felt at home in South Africa after just one visit and moved to Johannesburg with Eunese in 1998 - Nelson Mandela was the country’s president. They joined Eugene and Lionel who already lived there. Lamelle soon followed, and Elma, who lived in various countries on the continent, visited often. Joburg was where Marcia finally settled and laid down new roots. She honed her craft and grew her art business; she continued developing her concept of an African-inspired children’s educational series; and, she completed a course in interior design - aspects of which she incorporated into everything!
Several of her grandchildren were born in South Africa and although some of her children left the country over time, they saw her regularly. She endured many long-haul flights to be with her children during their various life stages - especially for the births of their children. Grandma Maya and Yaya, they called her. Each had a special relationship with her and they sometimes spent weekends, weeks and even months at a time with her. She drove them to school, helped them with homework, painstakingly labeled school supplies and took them to do their hair. She rooted for them at sports meets and recitals, scoured stores for gifts to match their individual interests, went all out on their birthdays and shared many laughs with them on WhatsApp video chats. When she heard about one of her grandchildren being bullied at school, she went to the school and put the fear of God in the bully - forget talking to the teachers or parents! A grandmother of ten, she seemed to relish that role the most!
In the twenty-one years that she lived in Johannesburg, Marcia literally planted herself into the community and created a family of friends. That very family was her pillar of strength when her son, Lionel, gained his wings in 2014 and they were her steadfast support and encouragement during her illness this year. Her home in South Africa became a home to many. She welcomed family, old friends, friends of friends, her children’s friends, her friends’ children, her sorority sisters and their fraternity brothers; she even hosted strangers in her rental units and they would often become friends. Joyce and Lorenzo Witherspoon, Rachelle and Wendell Wilson, Marcia & Mike Morgan, Teresa and Alex Cummings, Candy Kasonkomona, Ann-Marie Hosang and so many more...her South African crew was large and they were her constant companions.
Like her mother before her, Marcia could cook! She was in her element when she was feeding people but unlike Joetta, she had tricks to make delicious, Liberian food fast, because what she really enjoyed was hosting. She also loved gardening and hers was like a museum of modern art in the Garden of Eden: beautiful flowers, fresh fruits, herbs and potato greens, wind chimes, a waterfall and unique sculptures all around. Her sunroom was a greenhouse bathed in light with whimsical decorations tucked into every corner - it was where she had Special Sunday breakfasts with her grandchildren and many celebrations for family and friends. It opened out to the back garden, and with the surprise birthday gift she received this year to fund her patio project, she finished the extension and was looking forward to hosting there again.
In 2014, Marcia, along with Tracy Whitfield, Angela Deh, Nozipho Mbere and eleven other sorors, chartered Psi Tau Omega (PTO), the South African chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. As the chapter’s official hostess, Marcia welcomed and hosted other AKA’s who were visiting or moving to South Africa - the perfect position for her! She was a proud and active member of the PTO chapter, where her now 27 sorors stepped in stride with her. The community and charity work they did gave her a deep feeling of purpose and their sisterhood, a sense of belonging.
And, we come together today because she truly belonged! Marcia, our Maya, touched so many and as long as her memory remains in the hearts of those who knew and loved her, she lives.
Love and light she gave; love and light she is.
