Marcia Wood Lea

Marcia Wood Lea.  Born, May 7, 1925, Green Bay, WI, daughter of Esther (Laura) Peterreins Wood and Lester G Wood, deceased.  Died, September 7, 2019.   Predeceased by her loving husband of sixty-six years, Lorenzo Bates Lea and sister, Patricia Wood Baer.   Lovingly remembered by her children, Victoria Chaney (William), Jennifer and Christopher; five grandchildren: Wesley (Yajing) and Brice (Lyndsay) Chaney and Tyler Robinson (Sara), Hunter Robinson (Beverly) and Anna Robinson, as well as five great grandchildren and nephews and nieces.

Marcia’s mother wanted her to see a different part of the country for college.  Marcia was set on the University of California, but due to the war efforts, east-west train travel was difficult.   Marcia therefore spent one year at Gulf Park College in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she developed a love of the old south and proper manners, before transferring to Denison University, where she earned her BA in 1947, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.   While at Denison she was President of Kappa Kappa Gamma and active for life in Glenview (President of the North Shore chapter) and Naples, FL.  She attended the graduate school of business for one year at the University of Michigan. 

Marcia was an assistant buyer at Carson, Pirie, Scott in Chicago for several years until marriage in Green Bay on March 21, 1953 to L. Bates Lea, a young lawyer.  Both lived in the same neighborhood of Chicago’s “Gold Coast” and first met at a political gathering there.   Marcia and Bates lived in Chicago until 1955 when they moved to suburban Glenview.   After Bates retired, they divided their time between Glenview, IL, Naples, FL and a vacation home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  More recently, they lived permanently in Naples. 

Marcia was a long active member of Glenview Community Church; member and Chairman of North Shore YWCA; volunteer at Evanston Hospital for many years; member and chairman of the Illinois Children’s Home and Aid Society; long time member of P.E.O. Sisterhood in Glenview (past President of a North Shore chapter) and Naples; long time member of Friends of Glenview Library, including President.   Marcia was a “people person” and loved to golf.  It was probably the social aspects with fellow golfers that she most enjoyed.  She was a past chairman of the women’s golf association at Glen View Club, and also an active member of Wyndemere CC and Hole in the Wall Club in Naples, as well as the Naples Yacht Club.    Marcia’s greatest joy was being a mother and creating holiday traditions for the family.  She enjoyed entertaining friends at home, whether it be for bridge or small dinner parties; loved to travel both in the US and many foreign countries, with many such trips with family members after Bates’s retirement.  She was a regular collector of antiques, especially silver, and developed quite an expertise about silver, which she learned from her mother.  Her other past times included needlepoint, fly fishing, and mountain hiking.  It was a rare time which you did not see a smile on her face. 

A private funeral service is planned, with interment in Green Bay, WI.  Any memorial contributions may be made to the Naples Botanical Garden.