Marcia Bennett was born in 1935 in Las Vegas, NV, where her parents had bought land in 1920 and built a house on South Sixth Street. The middle child between two older and two younger siblings, Marcia grew up watching the city grow to become an entertainment mecca. As a high school senior, Marcia won a piano contest held by Liberace.
A member of the Mormon church, Marcia attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a teaching degree. She met her future husband at BYU, and they married the day after graduation. The couple moved to California, settling in the bay area.
Marcia taught school until her first daughter was born, and another girl and three boys followed, each a year apart. She returned to teaching when the youngest entered Kindergarten and taught English and History for 19 years. She is proud of an innovative volunteer program that she once developed between the school and a health care center, for which she was chosen as a state Volunteer of the Year and was flown to Los Angeles to give a speech about the program at Disneyland. For the last 15 years of her career, Marcia served as a junior high guidance counselor and says, “I really loved it.” Always a pianist, she loved to play and also taught piano over the years.
After a divorce and retirement, Marcia wanted to experience a new part of the country and moved east to North Carolina. In addition to piano, she enjoyed knitting, is an avid reader, and loves all animals, particularly dogs. She had two champion beagles who are lovingly remembered in a painting hanging in her room.
When Marcia moved from her South Chase home in Fletcher to Heather Glen in August of 2018, she wanted to bring her grand piano with her. She donated it to Heather Glen, and we all enjoy hearing it played in our dining room. Marcia has taught our senior college classes and led reading sessions for us, has donated books to and read most of the books in our library, and loves to watch birds at her feeder. She has also discovered coloring, and has worn out dozens of colored pencils.
Thank you, Marcia, for the many ways that you have contributed in life and for your many contributions to our community here at Heather Glen!