Marcie Summerlin

Marcie Bolton Summerlin, died of primary brain cancer on April 5, 2018. She had just turned 66 on Route 66. Marcie was born in the Columbia Women’s Hospital, Washington DC on March 11, 1952.
From an early age, Marcie demonstrated her ingenuity, personal initiative, and concern for others. At age 10, she started a local newsletter to tell of neighborhood happenings. When she was 14, she was hired by the local five and dime store, quickly becoming responsible for tallying each day’s receipts. Every summer during high school and college, Marcie volunteered at Camp Hope, SC, helping disadvantaged children.
Determined to continue in this direction, Marcie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education in 1974 from Clemson University. She then earned her Master’s Degree as a Reading Specialist from the University of South Carolina in 1975. This continued to be a momentous year as she married Glenn and got her first teaching position in North Charleston, S.C. In 1978, after Glenn was commissioned in the Air Force, Marcie continued her teaching career at military postings at Eglin AFB, FL, Memmingen Air Base, Germany, Ankara Air Station, Turkey, and Marquette, MI. At each location, she was soon recognized as the most dedicated and effective teacher in that school. At Memmingen, Marcie taught second through fourth grades concurrently in one trailer. She was a wonderful influence on hundreds of young minds during her sixteen year teaching career.
After their second assignment to Germany in 1992, Marcie transitioned from teaching into the Department of Defense Civil Service, with her first job being administrative assistant to the Brigadier General running the Headquarters European Command’s Military to Military Assistance Program for newly liberated East European countries. She excelled in this, and subsequent, positions at the US Army Washington DC National Guard Liaison Office, the Kirtland AFB, NM, Small Missile Development Office, and Secretary to the Chief, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Squadron, Dyess AFB, TX. Marcie and Glenn returned to Albuquerque, NM, when he retired from the Air Force in 1998.
Marcie began working at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 2000, soon becoming loved by fellow workers and individuals seeking help from the Albuquerque chapter. Her energy and organizational skills resulted in overachievement of monetary and participation goals, and truly empathetic support to blood cancer patients and their families. In 2010, Marcie decided she needed a change and aced the rigorous testing required for employment at Sandia National Laboratories. Over the next six years, she became a loved and indispensable member of the Environmental Restoration and Risk and Reliability Analysis Divisions. Marcie retired in October 2016, and increased her volunteer activities with the Alzheimer’s Association and the OASIS tutoring and mentoring program in the Albuquerque Public School system.

Marcie greatly enjoyed speed-walking with Holly, her English Shepherd, writing short stories and novellas for pleasure, membership in several book clubs, exercising and swimming at the local health clubs, and, of course, playing the piano beautifully for groups, or just for Glenn. Marcie loved exploring the American West and places not yet visited in Europe.
Marcie’s absence in this world creates a void for those who love her, but ensures the afterlife will be even better when we join her. Marcie is survived by her husband of forty-three years, Glenn; her sister and brother-in-law, Valerie and Steve McLaughlin; her three nieces, Tracy Weber, Amy Russell, and Rachel Charles; and her nephew, Daniel McLaughlin.
Marcie’s family thanks the doctors and nurses who cared for her, as well as the loving caregivers of Intrepid Hospice and Agape Home Health Care, Williamsburg, VA, and Heartland Hospice and Right At Home Health Care, Albuquerque, NM. We thank Jeff and Karen Bard for their crucial assistance in locating the right air ambulance service, and we thank the professionals of CSI Aviation Air Ambulance Service, Albuquerque, NM, for the effortless move from Virginia back to Albuquerque. We especially thank our brother-in-law and sister, Dr. Bruce and Cassianne Booth, for expediting medical diagnosis and care for Marcie’s condition, as well as their generosity in allowing us to stay in their beautiful home while in Virginia. And we thank our family and friends for their prayers and continuous support and assistance.

A Remembrance Celebration will be held Monday, April 23, 2018, 2:00 p.m. at FRENCH – Lomas. Marcie will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Marcie desires that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 21400, Albuquerque, New Mexico  87154.