Marcia (Marci) McPherson, age 80, passed away on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, at St. Peter’s Hospital in Olympia.

She was born on Dec. 31, 1937, in Tacoma to loving parents Dale and Doris Smith. She was raised on a farm in Edgewood with four spirited and protective brothers, Stephen, Douglas, Kent and Paul, whom she loved dearly. She enjoyed playing with her cousins on the farm and participating in 4H.

She graduated from Puyallup High School. She attended one year of college in Abilene, Texas, and completed her undergraduate work at Washington State University. She went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington.

She met and married her first husband, James M. Maples. They had one daughter Alisa D. Kharis (Maples). Marcia raised Alisa on her own for the first 15 years of her life. They were each other’s constant friends and source of strength.

Marcia spent her professional life working first with at risk youth in the juvenile court system and with DSHS. She later transitioned to aiding elder people and patients in the kidney dialysis units in both Grays Harbor Community Hospital and St. Peter’s Hospital. Her compassion for people truly was her life’s work.

On March 12, 1981, she married Robert I. McPherson, her loving husband of 35 years. They resided in Westport, Wash. Along with her husband, Marci was an active member of the VFW Post 3057, in the Ladies Auxiliary. She enjoyed trips to Las Vegas with her husband and friends and was well known for winning just before the end of the trip. She was an avid reader of mystery and crime novels.

She is survived by her daughter Alisa Kharis, and six step-children, Robert McPherson, Doug McPherson, and Trish Peckham, and Kelley Maples, Kathy Seanard, and Lonnie Maples, as well as 10 grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother’s Stephen, Douglas, and Paul, and eight nieces and nephews. She loved and was well loved in return.

Services will be held at Mountain View Cemetery in Lakewood, Wash. on April 20, at 11 a.m.