Marion S. Thorpe (Stoffregen)

Marion S. Thorpe, 90, formerly of Ellicott City, Md., died Thursday, January 5, 2017 at the farm shared by her daughter Susan Lee Fox and Jeff Van Voorhis in New Freedom, PA. A memorial service will begin at 2 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2017 at St. John's Episcopal Church, 9120 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City, MD 21042. Inurnment and a reception to celebrate Marion's life will follow and all are welcome. Marion Eleanore Stoffregen was born in Newark, NJ on March 25, 1926 to Lester and Eleanore Stoffregen. She had one sister, Carol Stoffregen Tarbutton, who is survived by her daughters Lynn Cummings and Polly Tarbutton and their spouses and children. Marion grew up in Newark, NJ and her father was a New York City banker. She moved to Westminster to attend Western Maryland College where her sister Carol also attended and graduated Magna Cum Laude. While attending college she met her husband, Robert A. Fox, through his cousin and her roommate, Jane Beall. They were married in 1948 and had three daughters. They lived in Baltimore until they purchased land and built their home on Foxhill Drive in Ellicott City in the early 1950s in the St. John's Manor Subdivision that they and four other couples founded. Bob and Marion were divorced in 1976. In 1977, Marion remarried Dr. Peter V. Thorpe and they lived in Columbia, MD and Sarasota, FL until his death in 1995. Years later, she moved to Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville until she relocated to New Freedom, PA four-and-a-half years ago after her stroke. Marion was a school teacher at Pine Orchard School when it first opened and also taught at Glenelg Country School, was active for five decades in Howard County Garden Clubs, and was one of the founding members, and later served as president, of the Maryland Landscape Design Critics Council. She also enjoyed Bridge Club, Gourmet Club and playing tennis at Forest Hill Swim & Tennis Club in Ellicott City. Later in life she worked as a realtor for Skirven Realty. She is survived by three daughters, Susan Fox, Stacey Fox and Sally Fox Tennant; four grandchildren, Grace and Grant Bondurant, and Randy and Brody Tennant; and her much-loved step-children, Gay Thorpe Cornwell and Tom, David and Debbie Thorpe, and their children and grandchildren. Memorial donations in Marion's name may be made to the place where she rescued her cat, Honey: Animal Rescue, Inc., PO Box 35, Maryland Line, MD 21105.