Obituary of Marcia Tracy Weston

Marcia Weston, a museum administrator and an officer in the Women's Army Corps during World War II, passed away on July 4, 2012 at The Virginian in Fairfax, Virginia where she had been a resident for the past 11 years. Mrs. Weston was born on September 3, 1912 in Seattle, Washington. Her parents, Lucius and Martha Marple were teachers from Boston who, as newlyweds, traveled to Seattle by train. They decided to remain and made their home in Seattle and on Mercer Island, Washington for the next 60 years. Mrs. Weston was the youngest of their five children. Marcia had a life-long interest in the arts which spanned several continents and a variety of activities in museums, schools and communities. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1935 and attended Radcliffe for a museum training course. A teaching fellowship in Oriental Art at Mills College, Oakland, California led to a Master of Arts in 1937. She spent the next year at Kobe College, Japan as an exchange student researching Japanese Art. In 1939 she was the acting curator in Oriental art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. With the outbreak of World War II, Marcia was one of the first to join the Women's Army Corps (WAC), serving first as a recruiting officer. Later, as a Captain, she saw duty in London and after the Normandy invasion in Paris. In 1944 she married Eyvinn Schoenberg. While raising a family in Seattle, Lima, Peru and Wichita, Kansas, Marcia continued her interest in art. She organized forums in Peru on the "Art and Archeology of Peru" and conducted research on Oriental sculpture in the Seattle Art Museum collection. In Wichita, she was coordinator for the Wichita Art Museum Members, an instructor in art classes at Wichita Collegiate School, and project director for the statewide Visual Arts project. In 1967 she returned to the Honolulu Academy of Arts as administrator for the Asian Decorative Arts Museum. In 1972 Marcia married Sam Weston. While living in La Jolla, California she was active in the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library. She and Sam traveled extensively throughout the Pacific and United States. After Sam Weston's death in 1982, Marcia spent several years in Issaquah, Washington and then moved to Fairfax, Virginia in 1992 to be near family. She served on the Fairfax City Commission on the Arts and developed her own creativity, studying watercolor and Sumi-e, oriental brush painting. Mrs. Weston is preceded in death by her parents, Lucius and Martha Marple, two brothers, Warren Marple and Elliot Marple, and a sister, Catharine Webber. She was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother and aunt to many nieces and nephews. Survivors include her brother Richard Marple of San Antonio, Texas; two children, Christina Black of Fairfax, Virginia, Vic Schoenberg of Boulder, Colorado; step-sons Pete Weston of Monument, Colorado and Dave Weston of La Jolla, California; five grandchildren, two great grandchildren and longtime friend and helper, Alba Merino. A memorial service will be held at The Virginian, 9229 Arlington Blvd., Fairfax, Virginia at 11:00 am on October 27, 2012. Interment is pending at Arlington Cemetery. A memorial fund has been established at the Mills College Art Museum, Office of Institutional Advancement, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94613.