BLACKWELL (STEED), Marianne age 90 passed away peacefully in her daughter’s home at Lake Martin in Alabama on November 18, 2021. She will be remembered as a wonderful person with a feisty, fun-filled personality and a great sense of humor. She was dearly loved and loved so many.
Marianne was born in Aliceville, AL and moved to Ashland, AL at the age of 12. She was a cheerleader at Ashland High and was The Clay County Maid of Cotton. She attended Huntingdon College for a year, transferred to Jacksonville State as a sophomore and, as a junior, transferred to the University of Alabama where she pledged Phi Mu social sorority. She graduated with a degree in Education from Auburn University (her fourth and favorite!) where she met the love of her life and husband of 66 years, Sam Blackwell. After a romantic, two-month courtship, they married on June 26, 1953 and moved to Anniston, AL where she lived and thrived for most of her life.
Marianne earned a Master in Education from Jacksonville State University. Sam and Marianne had one child, Celia, who they raised to love life and share in their joyous senses of humor. Though Marianne was only blessed with one child, she would gladly tell you she was blessed and amazed to have ten great-grandchildren! Marianne loved to socialize and host parties and was a wonderful friend to many. Marianne taught preschool at Good Shephard Presbyterian and later taught third and fourth grade at Tenth Street Elementary. She loved her students, and her favorite subject to teach was Geography. She and Sam later loved traveling to the many countries that were on her academic maps.
Marianne was written up in medical books after being diagnosed with MS at 38, but never succumbed to the debilitating effects of the disease. She was a fighter with a very positive attitude and only relied on a little help from a wheelchair when she reached her late 80’s.
Marianne has been reunited in heaven with her beloved Sam, who passed away in 2019, her brother Cyrus “Slick” and sister-in-law, Molly Steed, and her son-in-law, Rusty Brien. Marianne is survived by her daughter Celia (Rusty) Brien of Dadeville, AL; her 3 grandchildren: Sam (Mandy) Brien of Birmingham, AL, Russ (Lindy) Brien of Hoschton, GA, and Molly (Michael) Sutter of Brookhaven, GA; her ten great-grandchildren: Jackson, Walker, Campbell, Brooks, Ellie, Betsy, Blakely, Mary Michael, Hank and Sam; and her many nieces and nephews – all of whom will miss her dearly.
A memorial service has not yet been planned but contributions in Marianne’s honor can be made online or mailed to The National MS Society PO Box #91891 Washington, D.C. 20090.