Marcia was born in Melrose, MA on April 21, 1925, the second child of Lendol and Ernestine Snow. Even with the Great Depression early on in her life, her family lived comfortably in Lexington MA before moving to Chicago with her brothers Lendol Jr and Fred, where she graduated high school. Her parents divorced, and she and her mother, along with her younger brother, Fred, moved to Holliston, MA. Marcia graduated from Simmons Women’s College in Boston with a degree in Social Work. She loved baseball and would sneak into, or cajole attendants into letting her in to watch Red Sox games on her way home from school.
She worked at the Framingham Reformatory for Women as a prison matron from 1948 to 1950 under the guidance of legendary reformist Superintendent Miriam Van Waters. Marcia left there at the end of 1950 to become a Recreation Director for the Army Service Club in Japan to support and entertain soldiers on leave from fighting in the Korean War. She was a talented dancer and many officers wooed her without lasting success. She met Captain Donald Darnell in the fall of 1952 and they married in Sasebo, Japan on July 2, 1953.
Returning to the States, they lived in North Carolina, Colorado, Massachusetts, Japan, New Jersey and finally settling in California in 1966. They had three children, Curtis (1955), Jenyn (1957) and Stacey (1964). They settled into their final home on Davis St in Fremont in 1968.
Marcia lived the rest of her life as a loving and supportive wife, a wonderful, giving mother, Nanna and great-Nanna and was a joyful person with her extended family and many friends. She was a tutor for children and adults at her home, did volunteer work for Children’s Home Society and was a member of The Red Hat Society. Marcia and Don traveled the United States extensively for years, spending time with their many friends, visiting Cape Cod every other Summer. She was a magical person, remarkable for her true depth of affection for those around her and was always a comfort to the troubled and the joyful alike.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Don, in 2001. She is survived by her son, Curtis, daughters, Jenyn and Stacey, step daughter Linda, grandchildren Brian, Niki, Christopher, Daniel, Blair, Jodi, Hannah, Samantha and Jeffrey, and great-grandchildren Brian Jr, Courtney, Hailie, Zander, Mazen, Julian, Lola, Daniel, Blake, Aidan, Emmett and Jaxson. Her effect on all their lives is profound; that the greatest gift of life is to truly love and be loved.

For anyone who would like to listen, here is mom telling her life story in a Story Corps interview that Daniel set up in January of 2013. A little under one hour. Enjoy!
https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/sfb002135/