I first met Marjorie sometime in the early 2000s when I was invited to be part of the Habitat For Humanity Western Region Board (Montego Bay Jamaica). We worked together with Delzie Murray and several others to provide Habitat homes to those Jamaicans in the West of Jamaica who were in desperate need of adequate shelter. Marjorie was absolutely committed to the cause. She went out on inspection field visits, actively helped with fundraising, manned the office some days of the week, met with clients and stakeholders, worked to raise awareness for the organisation, created content for the website and, when Habitat for Humanity moved out of Jamaica, continued her commitment through the new entity, Jamaica Abode. She was immoveable in her resolve that the organisation, which she saw as a social necessity, would be successful.
She was a powerhouse of what seemed like infinite energy. She was always doing, giving, sharing, encouraging. Her laugh and smile were infectious. She was never afraid to voice an opinion but did so with her usual wisdom and tact. 
Marjorie was an avid reader and we exchanged books from time to time. I still have one of her books in my possession.
She was a beautiful soul who loved her children beyond words and spoke of them often. She loved church and was always eager to share her faith in God without any shadow of fear or doubt.  
The world, and all who knew her especially, was indeed blessed with her presence and will continue to be so blessed with her memory evermore. Rest well dear Marjorie. 

Marjorie Marsie-Hazen, née Simmons (6/245/1924 – 12/5/2022). 

Marjorie Marsie-Hazen, an educator, journalist, press officer and first Public Relations Director of the then-newly restored Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay, Jamaica from the 1960s to 1970s, died on Monday, December 5, 2022.  She was 98.

Marjorie Marsie-Hazen was born on June 25, 1924, in New York City to Trinidadian and Jamaican parents, Francis and Ivy Brown Simmons.  Her daughters credit her forward thinking and independent nature to her trifecta of grands - Jamaican-born grandmother "Granny Lou," a clerk of courts and the keeper of the key to Doctors Cave Beach, real estate investor grandaunt, Irene, and Mimi, who raised her in Jamaica from grasshopper age to pre-college.

She moved to Jamaica before the age of two years old and spent her formative years in Montego Bay, Jamaica where she attended Mt. Alvernia Preparatory School and Montego Bay High School, later relocating to New York City for undergraduate school. She earned her undergraduate degree from Hunter College, then a prestigious public college for gifted female students in New York City in the 1940s. While she successfully gained entrance into Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she dropped out prior to graduation to help pay for her younger sister’s college tuition. Four decades later, she successfully completed her Master’s in Communications from New York University (“NYU”) in her 60s.

Marjorie married and bore three children with husband, Woobishet Marsie-Hazen, former Ethiopian diplomat, and delegate to the United Nations (UN) - Getatchew, Desseta and Yodit (aka Judy). Her father-in-law was Blatta Mersie-Hazen Wolde Kirkos, an Ethiopian historian, former Minister of Education, former Chancellor of Addis Ababa University and Supreme Court Judge. Due to her former husband and father-in-law’s positions in Emperor Haile Selassie's regime, she was fortunate to have audiences with the Emperor and other heads of state such as the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

By age 30, she had already completed stints as a reader and byline editor for Seventeen Magazine, the Women’s National News Service and as a Press Officer for the Middle East and Africa Desk of the United States Information Agency. In 1963, Marge covered President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's historic last address to the UN General Assembly prior to JFK's assassination later that year.

After her marriage dissolved in 1962, Marge raised her children fearlessly as a single mother and provider, bucking the stigma against divorced women in the 1960s. Facing the racially charged, civic turbulence of the 1960s, she moved her children to Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1965. After relocating, she initially worked in the mid-1960’s as a free-lance writer/editor with The Beacon and The Visitor tourism magazines. She also taught for several years at Montego Bay High School.

Later, from the late 1960s to mid-1970s, she served as the first Public Relations Director for Rose Hall Great House, then undergoing groundbreaking restoration. Marge organized a series of philanthropic jazz concerts in 1969 featuring late great US jazz musician, Duke Ellington and ghost-wrote the narrative to the 1973 eponymous titled photobook, “Rose Hall.” Her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, a local orphanage, the Soroptimist Club, the Georgian Society, the Chamber of Commerce, as well as her volunteer teaching at her alma maters, were among her most valued achievements in Jamaica.

Between 1974 to 2015, Marge lived alternately in New York City, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), Port Richey and Orlando, Florida, and Jamaica, as she navigated her children's education, midlife re-employment and the terminal illnesses of her younger sister and son.

Glorene Perry reminisced, "I am sure as a community and in particular our [Bogue Heights Association] we have all benefitted from God's gift of Love and Service from our Sister - Marjorie Marsie-Hazen. She served for many years as one of our [Bogue Heights Association members] and gave excellent and caring service with her home being our meeting place for quite a while... Her varied services and contributions will be missed but I am sure we are all thankful for the fertile seeds she sowed which will ensure continued bountiful harvests for years to come. May her soul enjoy God's peace."

Ann Bailey, fellow community activist, recalls: “… I met Auntie Marjorie 15 years ago, but she made such an impact on my life … I connected with her on a lot of the issues that she cared about … just helping Jamaica, helping young people, helping people of color, young people wherever.”

Corysa Tenfah: “I have known Aunt Marge for 30 years …She was this phenomenal teacher of English who was extremely passionate [and who impacted] the course of my life and profession.,” said Corysa Tenfah, a former student from Marjorie’s post-retirement, volunteer teaching stint. “She did not teach English, she lived English. It was her flair, her character, it was everything … she was always demonstrating, who she was, what she does, and you would never miss a beat with her.”

Corysa Tenfah: “Aunt Marge took every opportunity to reinforce what we ought to be learning. She took pride in investing in her students and so for many, many years after high school, I would never leave her side …She ignited and brought life everywhere she [went]. And … it’s really an exciting journey that I have shared with her and the fact that she has actually molded my life… and it’s always been nice…how she [mentored] me, taught me about Africa, Ethiopia, world history---all of that came from spending my time with Aunt Marge and it’s just been a blessing spending my time with Aunt Marge.”

Marjorie is survived by daughters Desseta Marsie-Hazen (Leslie Gurdjieff) and Yodit Marsie-Hazen; grandchildren Yohannes Marsie-Hazen, Rahel Marsie-Hazen (Daniel Lichtenberg), Elsabet Marsie-Hazen, and Eleni Marsie-Hazen, great grandchild Elana Marsie-Hazen as well as stepchildren and step-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and cousins.  She is predeceased by former husband, Woobishet Marsie-Hazen and son, Getatchew Marsie-Hazen.

A Memorial Service will be held for Marjorie Marsie-Hazen on February 4, 2023 at 10.00 am EST at Annunciation Church, 1020 Montgomery Road, Altamonte Springs FL. 32714 ( Live Stream YouTube Link: https://.youtu.be/rjewFAwl5YE ).