Marianne Foreman Obituary

Marianne Kathryn Foreman of Las Cruces, New Mexico, aged seventy-nine, sadly left our presence on October 22, 2024. She passed at home, ending a long second bout of cancer. She did not "lose a fight", she traveled the long difficult road with courage and grace, with her husband at her side.

Marianne was born in New York, to Chester B. Lee and Marion Jans Lee. She spent her high school years in Massapequa, NY. She graduated from Plainedge High School, where she participated in many activities and received numerous awards. To quote her yearbook, "Everything she does, she does well, and she does everything." That could be said of her throughout her life.

She then attended Wagner College on Staten Island, NY, from which she attained a Master’s Degree. Marianne took advantage of their Junior Year Abroad program in Bregenz, Austria, from 1964-65. She met her husband, Jim, in 1964 as a fellow student. While there, she was notified that she had completed her Bachelor's Degree at the end of her Junior year. Upon her return to the states, Marianne went on to complete her Master's degree at Wagner College in 1966.

Marianne and Jim had been married for fifty-eight years as of August, 2024. After marriage they settled near Houston in Klein, Texas, where she taught English, French and German at Klein High School before becoming department chairman, then Associate Principal. She retired from Klein with thirty-three years of service.

Marianne and Jim loved to spend time at their beautiful property in Mena, Arkansas, and to travel. They had visited sixty different countries, all fifty states, and all Canadian provinces. Three of their more interesting adventures were driving their truck camper across the Arctic Circle on one trip, driving it to Panama on another; and, on a trip to Vietnam, visiting with a retired Vietcong Colonel in his home in Hanoi. After retiring, they were also full-time motor homers for five years, traveling the U.S before settling in Las Cruces.

Marianne is survived by her husband, Jim, of Las Cruces, NM; daughter Victoria Freeman of Cypress, TX; grandson Bryce Freeman of Ellicott City, MD; sisters Susanne Downes of Crofton, MD, and Rosemarie Kelly of The Woodlands, TX, and numerous other family members over whom she doted. Her daughter Kathryn Alise (Kara) Foreman preceded her in death at age 10.

A Celebration of Life will be held at some time in the future. In Marianne's honor, please donate to a charity of your choice.