Marianna died Jan. 25, 2021, after what she called her long “journey” with cancer. Gung-ho about Princeton, she majored in biology, played soccer, and was a proud member of Dial Lodge. Later, she served on the Alumni Schools Committee. 

Marianna volunteered in Appalachia with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and then returned to her native North Carolina to complete medical school and earn a master’s in public health. She served the poor as a family physician in the Smoky Mountains, where she was known to make house calls. She also served as medical director of the county health department for almost 30 years, helmed programs addressing hepatitis C and substance abuse, and shaped the county’s response to COVID-19. The county public health center is named in her honor.

After being diagnosed with cancer, she was thrilled to attend our 40th reunion with her roomies, Carol Meier, Susan Schindelar, and Anne Callahan Kracke. While Marianna’s vocation was serving the rural poor, she said her “bestest job of all was being Mother” of her three children: Kegan (Stephanie), Colleen, and Erin Gray (Aaron). 

The class sends its condolences to her entire family and all of her friends and colleagues.

Class Year: 
Undergraduate Class of 1979