Gifted artist and longtime CWE resident Marjorie Hoeltzel (see post here) died Saturday. Extemely active until the sudden end of her life, Marjorie celebrated her 90th birthday with her family in New York City last March.
The last communication I had from Marjorie was shortly before Christmas when I emailed to ask if she had holiday traditions I could share with my readers. Marjorie was a huge supporter of this blog and would often send a chirpy message of encouragement. She told me that, with morning coffee in hand, she started each day with "Nicki's Central West End Guide." I would frequently run into Marjorie with her daughter, Rebecca Glenn, the former head of Forsyth School, as they were out and about tracking down a suggestion they had read about here. That tickled me, for I had learned so much from Marjorie over the years.
In August of 2010. Jim and I were invited to view Marjorie's rooftop garden (see post here). "Come at the end of the day," she suggested. "We'll have a glass of wine and wait for the moonflowers to open." The view was unforgettable, as is my memory of a dear friend.
Marjorie's memorial will be held on January 28 at 4 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 600 N. Euclid.
Postscript: Marjorie had a serendipitous encounter with another close friend of mine, former CWEnder Charlotte Lyons, on a train travelling into New York City. At the time I had just begun writing the blog, so this was over two years ago. Though I can't remember now who boarded first, Marjorie and Charlotte (who did not know each other) wound up sitting together and struck up a conversation over drawings Charlotte was working on. One thing led to another—St. Louis and the CWE surfaced–and they remained email friends ever after.
Such a magnificent woman, an inspiration in every way. Her elegance, enthusiasm and kindness – I’ll remember that forever. My heart goes out to her family, friends and the CWE. 90 years of Awesome!