PORTLAND -- Margery W. Eliscu, 81, national award-winning columnist, died peacefully on July 27, 2006, at Piper Shores in Scarborough, following weeks of visits and tender loving care from her family and other loved ones, and after a long and valiant fight with cancer.

Born on April 9, 1925, in New York, N.Y., she was the daughter of Richard A. and Estelle Wolff and the sister of Baseball Hall Of Fame sportscaster Bob Wolff.

Marge grew up in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., and graduated from Lawrence High School in 1942. She studied music (voice) at Penn State.

In 1943, she married her high school sweetheart, Larry, while he was on active duty in the Army Air Force stationed in Montgomery, Ala. Following WWII, she and Larry moved back to the New York suburbs with their infant son.

In early adulthood, she wrote for a weekly newspaper and magazines, including Babytalk. Later, as her four children grew older, she enjoyed a professional career as a singer in Westchester county, performing in churches and for community groups.

Wonderful memories of attending Camp Waziyatah in the Harrison area brought Marge and family to Vacationland every summer starting in 1958. By 1970, they made a permanent move to Maine.

Marge resurrected her writing career with a humor column for regional newspapers in Maine and New Hampshire, including the Advertiser-Democrat in Norway. For the past 23 years, her Coffee Break column has been in the Portland Sunday Telegram. She produced a column for nearly every week until July, 2006.

She loved to write, loved her readers and was always thrilled to hear from or meet them. She was an active member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. In 1995, she won third prize in the humor category. Her writing is also included in the Maine Women Writer's display at Westbrook College.

Other accomplishments include a book entitled Russell Baker, Erma Bombeck & Me; a piece in the anthology In Stitches; sample writing used in the No Child Left Behind program; and a full-length screenplay, coauthored with her daughter Kathy-the-nurse, (a family comedy yet to be produced.) She was a frequent public speaker for community groups, with an affinity for addressing cancer survivors.

The home Marge and Larry provided was filled with music, and all four children made music and theater a part, of their lives; including professional performing.

She loved Broadway musicals, and took a special pleasure and pride in seeing her grandchildren perform so often and so well. She did not let her illness keep her from thoroughly enjoying life, and even while recuperating from a setback in May, she went to every performance of Godspell at Deering H.S. to watch her grandson Will portray Jesus. True to her characteristic exuberance for life, she arose from her wheelchair to give the young performers a standing ovation. Her love of life enabled her to enjoy each day and those who knew her will remember many outings, lunches-out, celebrations, holidays, and the enormous volumes of funny stories accumulated over the years and repeated frequently. She enjoyed playing bridge with the girls and participated in more than one Red Hat Club!

Marge is predeceased by a son, Robert of Zaandam, Holland. She cherished and is survived by Laurence, her husband of 63 years; daughter Laurie of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.; daughter Kathy of Westbrook; son Steve of Dover, N.H.; 13 grandchildren: Lili, Kathy, Christie, Tommy, Cassie, Sally, William, K.T., Aria, Steven, Lula, Misha, and David; and two great-grandchildren: Emma and David; her grandsons-in-law Paul and Jeremy; and Kathy's fiance Ted; as well as dear and close family friends whom Marge truly considered family. They know who they are and how much pleasure Marge took in each and every one of them.

In her last days, her daughter Kathy asked if she had any wishes. Yes, she said, that everyone should be happy and well.

In Marge's memory, it is requested that everyone who reads this hug their loved ones and laugh together!

Our deepest thanks to the incredible staff at MMC, the wonderful, warm nurses and staff at Piper Shores, Dr. Peter Emery, Dr. Hector Tarraza, Arlyn O'Rourke, Dr. Susanna Campos, Hospice of Southern Maine, and the American Cancer Society. Every person who helped take care of Marge in the last part of her life made a huge difference, and her family is truly grateful.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later this week by Independent Death Care, 471 Deering Ave., Portland.Tel: 207-878-3246.

In lieu of flowers, anyone who wishes may make a donation to: Robert Eliscu Music Scholarship Fund, Norway Savings Bank.

Or, in Marge-style, take a friend out to lunch!
Margery W. ELiscu

Published in Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram on July 30, 2006

Margery W Eliscu