Marian



	Marian Norrish was born in Cincinnati in the midst of the great Ohio River flood of 1913. She was always full of stories of her childhood.:
	...being chased by the bull in the neighboring pasture
	...her father stepping into a tub full of ducks in the kitchen
	while chasing a burglar from the house.
	...blackberry picking with her mother and father during the
	1920’s and being cornered by bootleggers because they
	got too close to the still.
	...watching her Uncle George Fichtel paint...the uncle who
	gave her her first violin.
	...and all of the animal stories...especially about the dog that
	followed her home. Her neighbor, John Waldman, said it
	followed her home at the end of a 1” thick rope.

	The Victrola played an important part in her childhood. She would play recordings over and over and either dance or sing the day away. Several years ago as I was preparing the cornet solo, The Sounds of the Hudson by Herbert L. Clarke, for a recital she told me to look into the collection of 78s...lo and behold there was a recording of the piece played by Clarke himself...it was the piece she would use to dance away the hours...winding the Victrola over and over again.

	In 1929, at the age of 16, she and her mother took “the trip of a lifetime” to California to visit her aunt in Los Angeles. The one event she always talked about was the train ride and then the incline ride to the top of Mt. Lowe just north of Pasadena. There she was able to look out over the entire LA basin...not realizing that she was looking at the very area she would move to 70 years later. She always talked to me about this event as the high point of the trip that included
	...the Grand Canyon
	...swimming at Balboa Beach
	...having her picture taken with a movie star...Jiggs
	the Monkey
	...and driving through what we now call The Grapevine on her way
	to her cousin’s home in Taft...then a treacherous two lane road.

	In 1931 she had to undergo a massive mastoid operation. Her chances were about a million to one. Through the grace of God she survived this year long ordeal. Her neighbor, John Waldman, said it was because neither God nor the devil was ready for her. She had always been active in church...her father had been raised Episcopalian but her mother won out and she was baptized and confirmed in the German Evangelical Church. Her illness intensified her religious fervor and she was active as a church musician and Sunday School teacher throughout the 1930s as she worked
	...in a wall paper store (managing, and matching wall paper at
	25 cents per hour),
	...at the Ohio National Life Insurance Co.,
	...and teaching and performing (violin, voice and piano) in the
	Cincinnati area
	...this including performances over the radio...it may have been
	WCPO, but I like to think it was “WKRC in Cincinnati.”

	In 1938 she was teaching Sunday School and singing at Immanuel Reformed Church when Henry Harrell, one of the church elders, introduced her to his son, Walter, a seminary student home for Christmas break. Their first date was going to her Christmas Eve church performance (I believe one of the songs she sang was the Mozart Alleluia). They were married six months later, one week after Walter was ordained to the Christian Ministry in the newly merged Evangelical & Reformed Church. During the next 35 years they served together in the Christian ministry at First Reformed Church, Reeseville, WI; the Home Mission Field of the E&R Church at Zion Memorial E & R Church, Dayton, OH; First Immanuel United Church of Church, Alliance, OH; and Emmanuel Bethel United Church of Christ, Royal Oak, MI. She directed church choirs in Reeseville, Dayton and Alliance, as well as the Regional Women's Chorus of the E&R Church in Dayton, OH.

	Following Dad’s death in 1974 she kept active, serving as a parapro for special education classes, maintaining her own day care center, working as a hospital volunteer and as always active with music and art. She soon moved to Ypsilanti to be near us...living two blocks down the street. Always an integral part of the family she made it possible for Mary to achieve her masters degree and saw to it that Josh and Jobi were able to get to gymnastics, music lessons, swimming practice, etc. Actually she became “Grandma Harrell” to everyone. At Jobi’s high school graduation, the main speaker...Asst. Principal Ricki Ross, had Mom stand and he presented her to the community as a role model of what a family matriarch should be.

	When we moved to California she made the difficult decision to also move...a fortunate decision since our family has regrouped here from Michigan, Georgia and Connecticut.
	Her final years were plagued with constant dizziness...not really unusual, since my father always referred to her as his “dizzy blonde.” However, she was able to attend Jobi and Lucas’ wedding and watch the video of Josh’s graduation. Some of you may remember her singing with Mary’s stepmother, Louise, and Lynn Hough at the wedding reception ...I’m forever blowing bubbles...and Mom was the one who knew all the words! The other day I was looking through the 78s for the copy of The Sounds of the Hudson, and in the adjacent album I found another recording Mom had played over and over
	...I’m forever blowing bubbles
	Pretty bubbles in the air,
	They fly so high
	Nearly reach the sky,
	Then like my dreams
	They fade and die...

	With her daily prayers, Mom was always spiritually looking out for all of us...alert to the end she made sure that everything was addressed in her prayers...a daily communication for strength and guidance...and her prayers were not bubbles...bubbles that just rise and fade away....