Marie Anne Pearsall, 82, died Saturday, March 6, at Three Links Care Center in Northfield.

            She was born on July 1, 1927 in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Angelo and Mildred (Phillips) Pelliccia, the first of five children.  The family soon moved to Detroit, Michigan and Marie grew up there.  She attended Cass Technical High School and graduated in 1945 as valedictorian of her class.

            On September 13, 1947 Marie married Richard Sutton Pearsall in Detroit.  Her husband was employed by Freuhauf Trailer Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Avon Lake, Ohio.  While living in Avon Lake, Marie earned a bachelor’s degree in education and began teaching elementary school.

            In 1974 Marie and Dick moved to Pretty Lake in northern Indiana.  She completed her master’s degree the next year and taught in the Fort Wayne public school system until she and her husband retired at the end of the 1980s.  About that time they bought a place in Florida and started spending winters there.  Until Richard’s death in 2006 they went on many cruises to far-away places. 

            Marie was an avid quilter and loved to dance.  She did volunteer work in Florida and at the Mid-America Windmill Museum in Kendallville, Indiana.  She loved to travel and meet people, and she made friends easily because of her sunny disposition and positive attitude.  It was not hard to make her laugh.

            After her husband’s death Marie had been in declining health.  She lived in Seattle, Washington for a year, and had been living in Northfield since 2008.

            Marie was preceded in death by her husband, and brothers Peter and Philip.  She is survived by a brother, Robert Pelliccia (Linda) of Chesterfield, Michigan, and a sister, Millie (David Bell) of Bokeelia, Florida, and her children Deborah Pearsall (Mike DeLoughery) of Clark, Missouri, David (Kim Lorn) of Seattle, Diane Pearsall (partner Owen KenKnight) of Northfield, and Douglas (partner Noël Cawley) of High Springs, Florida, and by four grandchildren.

            According to her wishes Marie’s remains were cremated by Benson and Langehough Funeral Home of Northfield.  There will be a memorial service in Indiana at a later date.