Marcia Pickering Hunt of Marshfield passed away on January 8, 2023, at the age of 89.  Beloved wife of the late Bruce Hunt; loving mother of Eliza Hunt and her husband Matthew of Hopedale, Peter Hunt and his wife Laurie of Washington, Christopher Hunt of Hopkinton and Lorene Hunt of Hopedale, and the late Sarah Hunt of New Jersey and her husband Thomas Wilshire; treasured grandmother of Henry, Emily, Jared, Zoey, Rebecca, Sarah, and Jackson; proud great-grandmother to Enzo Fertitta; loving sister of Thomas R. Pickering of Virginia and sister-in-law of the late Scotia Crest of Assonet.

Marcia grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey and attended Brown University/Pembroke College, where she earned a degree in political science while being courted by her future husband, Bruce.  In 1958 Marcia and Bruce got married and moved to Long Island, New York, eventually settling in the village of Northport.  In 2018, Marcia and Bruce celebrated their 60 ^th wedding anniversary.

In the 1970s, Marcia worked as a librarian at the American Community Schools of Athens, Greece, during the family's combined six years living in Greece.  In the 1980s, back in New York, Marcia attended graduate school, obtaining a Master's in Library Science from C.W. Post and went on to work in the 1980s as a librarian at Northport Public Library and Northport High School, among other places.

In 1990, Marcia and Bruce retired from Northport and took jobs at the American Embassy School in Damascus, Syria, where they continued to work as librarian and teacher, respectively, for the next five years.  It was in Damascus where Bruce and Marcia met Trish and Owen Hodge, with whom Marcia and Bruce became dear and lifelong friends, and for whose years of unwavering love and support through difficult times the family is deeply grateful.

Following extended research on the perfect place to retire, Marcia and Bruce found it in the Greek island of Skiathos.  They moved there in 1998 and lived nearly idyllic Greek island lives for the next 16 years, hosting anyone and everyone, for however long they wished to stay.

In 2014, Marcia and Bruce left Greece for the last time, moving to the "Grey Gull," the family's cottage in Brant Rock, where they spent their remaining years enjoying the view, the sun, and even the storms; but most of all, enjoying the friends and family who visited seemingly daily, even during those storms.  Marcia also stepped up her bridge game in recent years with her wonderful friends at the Marshfield Senior Center, earning a national ranking.

Marcia was drawn to people - and people were certainly drawn to Marcia.  It wasn't so much her "winning smile" or "magnetic personality" that drew people in, though she had all that; no, people saw – felt - something far deeper drawing them into Marcia's circle, her openness, her honesty, her approachability, her availability; in sum, her ability and desire to listen, to help, to genuinely make it about them, not her.  And to never judge.  Never.  And to forgive, always.

Marcia was not particularly religious (though extremely philosophical and "spiritual" far beyond the word's common, colloquial, and overused meaning) in the traditional sense; to know Marcia's beliefs you had to know Marcia, and to know Marcia was to know someone who loved, unconditionally, and gave of herself unhesitatingly, in the best traditions of the world's great religions.  Marcia walked the walk; she was the rare soul who always tried to do the right thing ("even when no one was looking," as the saying goes).  I don't recall a time she failed.

Marcia lived a life few could conceive in 2023, much less 1970 when she, Bruce, and their four children moved to Greece for the first time; or 1990, when she and Bruce moved to Damascus; or 1998, when she and Bruce retired to the Greek island of Skiathos.  But to Marcia the question has usually been "why not?"  Even more often it has been Marcia's answer.  For example, she said "why not" upon learning that Brown – Pembroke – did not have an all-female acapella group. She didn't stop to wait for the answer; Marcia and several friends instead immediately formed Pembroke's first all-female acapella group, the "Chattertocks," which is still going strong 70 years later.  Why not go to Greece?  Or Syria?  Why not retire on a Greek island?

And, more recently, "why not" host yet another holiday gathering, despite the toll it took on her; Marcia's strongest wish has always been that her family and friends take care of each other, be there for each other, and express to each other the love we feel, loudly and often.  This is but one lesson Marcia taught so many of us, not by lecture but by example.

After expressions of love, Marcia's second favorite way of sharing a moment was through music.  The family had no TV in Greece in the 1970s, being an out-of-reach luxury at the time, but we did have a stereo, which mom considered non-negotiable.  Marcia loved her music, as a teenage girl going to see Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn in Manhattan in the early 50s, to the 1970s, when she introduced her family to ABBA and Steve Miller, Carly Simon and Elton John, and so many others, right up to her last hours at the cottage, where – though unable to talk – she expressed her sonic satisfaction by tapping her feet to her favorites.

Please send memorial donations to The Marshfield Food Pantry, where Marcia and Bruce were volunteers. Donations can be sent by mail to P.O. Box 1097, Marshfield, MA 02050 or sent online at https://www.marshfieldfoodpantry.org/