Marianne I. Ford

Marianne I. Ford, 69, of Manlius, NY passed away on Tuesday at Upstate University Hospital attended by her husband. Marianne was born on September 20, 1949 in Jamestown, NY, the daughter of the late Lester and Letha Raymond.

Marianne was employed at SonShine Child Care Center in Manlius, where she kept the books, published the newsletter, did fund-raisers and cared for children.

Marianne met her husband Don through their love of singing. They played major roles in a well-known touring singing group called "Up With People." She had a full even soprano voice which blended well with Don's clear tenor. They fell in love and married in 1970. They both were quite active in various Christian groups in the 1970s such as Youth for Christ and those churches which were influenced by the revival sweeping the nation in the late sixties and throughout the seventies.

Don and Marianne raised two "only children." They had a son, Andrew, early in their marriage, who has become a talented writer and publisher of comics and graphic novels. Then, when she was 47, they had a daughter, Erin. Marianne resisted the recommendations of the doctors to end her pregnancy and she gave birth to Erin, who has grown up to be a lovely and gifted young woman.

Marianne had a deep, vital and personal relationship with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Her faith was central to everything she said and did. While she seemed to be just a normal housewife and mother, there was an adventurous side to her character. In 1992, she raised support and made a mission trip into Communist China to aid the persecuted church. She persisted in her studies and earned her B.S. from Houghton College in 1995. She had a burden for Native Americans both in the U.S. and Canada. She helped to foster Native American Christian conferences at her home church, Community Covenant. She made a mission trip to the Indigenous People of Northern Canada, which could only be reached by a small aircraft. With the advent of the internet, she initiated a friendship online with a family in Scotland which resulted in the son visiting here in America. We will miss her intelligence, her compassion, her courage and her wisdom.

For the last several years, Marianne demonstrated courage, faith and resilience in the way she endured the relentless complex of illnesses which finally took her life. But these adversaries did not take her love for the Lord. She has run her race. She has kept the faith. She has passed into the loving arms of Jesus.

Marianne is survived by her beloved husband Donald, their son, Andrew M. Ford, their daughter, Erin (Alessandro) Lobato, and her brother, Timothy Raymond.

Calling hours will be held at Community Covenant Church, 107 Pleasant St., Manlius, NY, on Saturday, May 25th, from 2:00 to 3:00 P.M., with a Memorial Service to follow.

To share a memory of Marianne or leave a special message for the family, please visit the guestbook below.