Marian Ruth Larson

Born in Niles, Ohio, Marian was the daughter of Laura Darell (Morrall) Cleaton and James Gabriel Cleaton, and sister of Richard James Cleaton. A resident of Cape Neddick, Maine, she was staying with her daughter Laurie in Princeton, New Jersey, at the time of her death.

Marian was married in 1950 to Allan Stanley Larson of New Rochelle, New York; they divorced in 1982. Their daughter Laurie, of Princeton, survives; daughter Kristin predeceased her mother. Marian is also survived by Kristin’s daughter Jessica Meyers, husband Michael, and their children, Kaitlyn, Jonathan, Aris and Damian, of Cape Neddick. Laurie’s stepchildren Heather, Todd, and David Goldberg, and the Goldberg family, all of New Jersey, also honor Marian.

Marian earned BS and MS degrees in education at Kent State University. She taught first grade for 30 years in Chagrin Falls, Ohio where she pioneered in using nature and the environment in her curriculum. She was an accomplished botanist and photographer. She volunteered at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and was a founding member of the Ohio Native Plant Society. On retirement in 1982, she moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and later Cape Neddick, Maine. She worked as a docent at the Strawbery Banke history museum, and also volunteered for Laudholm Farm and other groups. She appreciated music and art, and was a book collector and gardener. Marian shared her joy in nature with her family, friends, and with generations of schoolchildren, who remember her lovingly.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 1 p.m., at the Mount Agamenticus Learning Lodge in York, Maine. The family encourages donations in Marian’s memory be made to the Mount Agamenticus Conservation Program, or to the Montgomery Emergency Medical Service, in Belle Mead, New Jersey.