Elizabeth Marble died peacefully in her home on Sept. 12 after her well-fought battle with breast cancer.
Elizabeth was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, though she spent the summers with her family at her grandmother’s house in Christmas Cove. After graduating from Seven Hills School, she earned her Bachelor’s degree at Miami University (Ohio), and then moved to Boston where she completed her Master’s degree at Leslie University.
It’s been said that there are two kinds of people in this world – gardeners and flowers. Elizabeth Marble was most certainly a gardener. She thrived on giving to others, nurturing children, and championing causes that aim to make the world a better place, so early childhood education was a natural and perfect fit for her. She worked at Beacon Hill Nursery School, and then Magic Garden Children’s Center in Lincoln, Mass. before becoming a supervisor at Head Start, and the school director at Head Start in Charlestown, Mass. From there she joined Action for Community Development in Boston, where she was the director of the Resource and Referral program for the city of Boston.
It was in Boston that she met Gary Ciocci, and they married in Maine in September of 1995. Elizabeth took a few years off from teaching after their daughter, Madeline, was born, and then returned to the classroom to teach second grade at The Well School in Peterborough, N.H. Elizabeth thoroughly loved teaching children, and many of the relationships she built as a teacher are still celebrated decades later.
Elizabeth was active in the ConVal Parent Advisory Council, Coontoocook Valley Visual and Performing Arts-Fill the Void, and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer events. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends, skiing, sailing, swimming, playing in leaves, snowstorms, museums, travel, and eating Graeter’s Ice Cream.
Elizabeth leaves behind her husband Gary Ciocci; daughter, Madeline Ciocci; sisters, Emily Marble (brother-in-law Philip Chester and niece Zoe) and Susan Mehlhorn (brother-in-law Paul Mehlhorn, niece Avery and nephew Keegan); in-laws, Henry and Dorothy Ciocci, and Ken and Terri Ciocci; and the many friends from her Cincinnati, Well School, Peterborough, and Christmas Cove “families.”
True to her gardener spirit, Elizabeth also chose to leave her body to the oncology researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, so they might advance their knowledge and understanding about the onset, recurrence, and treatment of breast cancer.
There will be a celebration of Elizabeth’s life at a date TBD. Information will be posted here.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Coontoocook Valley Visual and Performing Arts, http://convalvpac.org/
