Marian North Koonce passed on March 10, at 7:08 PM, peacefully at ther home in Santa Barbara, surrounded by loved ones, at the age of 94.
She was born to James Baker North Jr. and Anna Mildred North. She was the middle of three children. They spend the first four years of her life with their parents, at various Methodists missionary sites in Africa. They returned to New York at the height of the great depression. Destitute, they lived in a lean-to along the Hudson river in New Jersey, before finding their way back to Texas where she lived on a subsistence farm during her formative years. Marian graduated Valedictorian from Newton High School in Bucks County Pennsylvania and attended the University of Texas.
Marian may be best known for her political and other civic minded activities. She was a delegate to four conservative Republican conventions and was a member for the California State Republican Central Committee for twenty years. She served as co-chair for the committee to elect Ronald Wilson Reagan. She was a member of the Lincoln Club and the charter member of their Republican Hall of Fame. She served many boards, often as the Chairman, including; Montecito Bank and Trust, Hospice, Las Positas Park, Santa Barbara Symphony, The Rehabilitation Institute of Santa Barbara, Cottage Hospital, Channel Islands YMCA and the Channel Islands Multiple Sclerosis Society. She was the first woman Chair of any Bank Board in Santa Barbara county. Marian received a Presidential Appointment, from President Ronald Reagan, to the National Council on Disability. She was re-appointed several times by President Reagan and later by President George H.W. Bush. During this time the agency was largely responsible for drafting, the document we know as the A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act). She served in that capacity for nine year, until President Bush signed it into law. All the while she quietly nurtured many young people, open to her mentoring.
Marian had a great affinity for words. Clearly one of the greatest frustrations of her advanced years was the occasional difficulty finding the words she wanted as readily as they had once come to her. For several years she competed in national level Scrabble tournaments and ranked quite well. Only days before her passing she bested a friend who had been similarly ranked. She played the Codeword Puzzle from the News Press daily.
Marian was preceded in death by her first husband William Hill who passed in 1966 and second husband Elmer Koonce who passed in 2012. She is survived by her older brother James Baker North III, younger sister Jean Ellen North Grim, seven children (Lucinda Hill Howe, Linda Koonce Howe, Walter Hubbard Hill, Barbara Hill Holt, Melinda Hill Calbow (passed less than 48 hrs later), Mark North Hill and Nicholas Jacob Koonce), twelve grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life, honoring Marian Koonce and Melinda Hill Calbow, will be held at 3 PM, on April 13, at the Santa Barbara Community Church. A reception will follow with refreshments and hors d’oeuvres served at 5pm for those who RSVP. https://goo.gl/JtLTsR. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers , memorial contributions may be sent to Life Chronicles https://www.lifechronicles.org/donate/
