Marilyn Kidder Marchant

Marilyn Kidder "Suki" Marchant, 98, passed away at her home in Glastonbury, CT on April 24, 2025, in the company of her children. She was born in Medford MA, March 3, 1927, the daughter of Oliver and Helen (Green) Kidder. She spent her early years living at Woburn St. in Medford and resided in this town until about 1932 when the family moved to Rochester, NH. In 1937, Marilyn contracted polio, one of two cases of polio in Rochester that year. She was sent to Boston Children’s Hospital for diagnosis and treatment, recovering sufficiently by April of 1938 to return to school.

She was a graduate of Rochester High School (now Spaulding High School), followed by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Sargent College of Allied Health, Boston University in 1948. She continued her education with a Master’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1957. She worked for the New York State Rehabilitation Hospital, West Haverstraw, NY for three years and for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, OK. Following this she took a teaching position at the University of Connecticut from 1952 to 1957. For the remainder of her career, she was employed by various agencies as a physical therapist. While bringing up her family she worked for the Glastonbury Visiting Nurse Association and retired from this profession in 2001 at the age of 73.

Her aunt Edna Kidder taught Marilyn to knit at about the age of 9. This vocation was a skill she would employ for the remainder of her life. When she was preparing for college, she knit eight sweaters for herself to take to school. She continued knitting in her leisure time, often knitting articles for others, such as baby blankets, prayer shawls, and winter hats and mittens which she donated to charities.

As a teenager, she enjoyed working in the summer for the owners of Lake Shore Park in Gilford NH, assisting housing, kitchen and store staff. At the age of 22 and just out of college, she purchased the building materials to erect a small cottage on a tent platform, which her father masterfully constructed. This was where she welcomed friends to enjoy Lake Winnipesaukee and spent many summer weeks and weekends with her growing family. To this day, it remains a favorite family gathering spot and looks nearly the same as it did when built in 1949!

She was an avid vegetable gardener and would plant seeds early in the spring and keep them indoors until favorable conditions allowed transfer outside. She would always offer to share the bounty of her harvest, particularly once their children left home. She beamed when harvesting giant zucchini, trays of tomatoes and bundles of asparagus, then thriftily canned, froze, or preserved various fruits and vegetables. Her thriftiness continued as she aged and although living alone, she continued to look for bargains in grocery stores and not be wasteful.

Other activities she enjoyed included games (canasta, cribbage, mah jongg among them) and outdoor activities -- downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months, and golfing, fishing and kayaking in the summer months. Knitting was a year-round activity, and she would often have a satchel with yarn and needles at her side when going to events, or while sitting and conversing with friends. One of her passions was to watch basketball on television -- it was hard to deter her from watching UConn women’s and the WNBA! She justified the sedentary activity by knitting, always keeping her eyes on the game, not the stitches. For a great number of years, she and her husband enjoyed performances at the Bushnell Auditorium, especially the Hartford Symphony concerts and the Travelogue series. They participated in square dancing early in their marriage, and ten pin bowling once retired.

She resided in Glastonbury CT for most of her married life and was a longtime member of the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury. There she participated in the church choir, Women’s Fellowship, Board of Deacons, and Board of Trustees. With her husband, Dart, they founded the Outdoor Experience group, sharing their love of nature and the outdoors by leading willing participants on camping, hiking and canoeing trips throughout New England. The two shared enormous joy traveling -- starting with a trip Spain and Portugal in 1971 with her mother, Helen Kidder. Travel increased following their respective retirements on trips organized by Elderhostel (now known as Road Scholar) to Europe, Africa, Asia, Turkey, New Zealand, and Alaska, as well as Habitat for Humanity projects in Hartford and Hungary. Travel was an important aspect of their life together, and to instill an appreciation for natural history, national and state parks, and wildlife, they once loaded the Ford station wagon with tents, camping supplies, and a bounty of AAA Trip-Tiks for a 7-week journey with the five kids across the United States in 1973.

She is predeceased by her husband of 58 years, Richard Darton (Dart) Marchant, and survived by her children, son Daniel and wife Linda of Ware MA, daughter Susan Durham and husband Stephen Beard of Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago, son Thomas and wife Mary of Glastonbury CT, son Jonathan and wife JoAnn of Sanbornton NH, and daughter Jean Marchant of Enfield NH; her seven grandchildren, Michelle Allen, Kathy Norman, Sarah Brandolini, Francis Marchant, Nick Marchant, Zoltan Marchant, and Hannah Marchant; and six great grandchildren Taylor, Leah and Jake Allen, and Cassidy, Rylie and Parker Norman; nieces and nephews Kate (Mearns) Ohno, Richard Mearns, Ronald Kidder and predeceased by her nephew James Kidder.

A service of remembrance will be held at the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury on Saturday, 14 June 2025 beginning at 11:00am. A reception will be held in the Social Hall following the service. A private interment will be held at Mountain View Cemetery in Saugerties NY. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that charitable donations be made in the donor's name to the American Red Cross, local Humane Society, or the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury.