Marion Ford Memorial

Marion Eva Huley Ford, a longtime resident of Gallipolis, Ohio until 2005, passed away on May 27, 2013 in Jacksonville, FL after a brief illness.

Marion was born in Brooklyn, NY on August 10, 1923 to John and Katherine Huley. She was a talented pianist who studied piano for many years beginning at a very early age. Marion and her brother John Huley, a gifted violinist, began performing professionally throughout New York City before either of them were teenagers. Marion attended Brooklyn College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and studied piano at the famed Julliard School of Music. Marion and Louis Randolph Ford, Jr., a Coast Guard Academy cadet at the time, were married on November 25, 1944. Louis and Marion moved to Gallipolis in 1954 where Marion began a long and successful career as a piano teacher. Over nearly 50 years, Marion taught hundreds of students throughout Gallia County and surrounding cities and towns. Several of her students have gone on to successful musical careers of their own and many families boast several generations of family members who studied with her.

Marion was an active and dedicated parishioner of St. Louis Catholic Church in Gallipolis until she and Louis moved to Jacksonville. Included among her activities on behalf of the church was serving as one of the parish’s organists for many years. Her work within the musical community in Gallipolis left a lasting mark beyond the students who studied with Marion, including spearheading the drive to bring Community Concerts to Gallipolis in the seventies and eighties and assisting with the establishment of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre, home of The Ohio Valley Symphony.

Marion’s husband, Louis, preceded her in death in February of 2008. She is survived by her five children: Anne Landry (John) of Jacksonville, FL, Marie Murphy (John) of Omaha, NE, Robert Ford (Carolyn) of Danville, CA, Joan Braun (Edward) of Landisville, PA, and Teresa Ford (Spencer Bishop) of Kirkland, WA; eleven grandchildren: Kevin Hemphill, Deborah Hemphill Panetta (Mick), Daniel Murphy, Timothy Murphy (Tess), Patrick Murphy, Jeffrey Ford (Alissa), Brian Ford (Kristen), Scott Ford (Fortuna), Mark Braun (Jennie), Maureen Braun, Kevin Braun (Catherine); four great-grandchildren, Tyler Robert Ford, Lily Carolyn Ford, Paolo Padraig Murphy, and Giacomo Eamon Murphy; and three step-great grandchildren, Nicholas Panetta, Raymond Panetta, and Celia Panetta.

A memorial mass honoring and celebrating Marion’s life will be held at St. Louis Catholic Church in Gallipolis, on August 10, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. A reception will follow on the church grounds. Thereafter, Marion will be entombed next to her husband in the Chapel of Hope Mausoleum in the St. Louis Catholic Cemetery in Gallipolis. A memorial concert will be held at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre Sunday at 2 pm featuring some of Marion’s former students. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Marion’s honor to the following organizations: The Marion Ford Memorial Fund for the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre where donations can be made below or by mail to P.O. Box 424, Gallipolis, Ohio 45631 and to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, 4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32257.

Marion Ford Memorial Fund

The Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.