In Loving Memory of
Marci Moore
April 17, 1958 – December 19, 2020
A Virtual Celebration of Life Gathering was held on January 30, 2021 at 7:00 PM EST
Marci Sue Moore, 62, of St. Petersburg, Florida, took her last breath in the early morning hours of December 19th after almost two years of living with metastatic breast cancer. Her wife, brother, sister-in-law and the amazing care team at Suncoast Hospice Mid-Pinellas Care Center were at her side as she transitioned to the next life.
Marci is survived by her wife, Pam Williams; her mother, Gloria (Sue) Moore; brothers Marvin (Phong), Paul (Jenny) and Joel (Amy); her Moore nephews Mikey (Amber), Chad (Chelsea), Zachary, Clayton (Grace) and Josh; her wife’s family, who she loved like her own: Cindy Williams, David (Karen) Williams and Daryl, Kim & Wesley Gramling and Robyn Mallery; and Idrissa, the brother she met and “adopted” in Rwanda. She will be missed by other friends and family around the world, especially her beloved Life is a Verb and Womanhood Weekend communities. She was predeceased by her father, Shields and her brother Mark (Kay).
When Marci’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, the fragility of life prompted a dream; that dream compelled Marci to finally tell Pam how she felt about her. They had grown to care deeply for one another other over the course of a five-year friendship. That friendship formed the foundation of a love that grew deeper over their almost 26 years together. In 2013, when they were legally allowed to do so, they were married on Whidbey Island, one of their favorite places. Together Marci and Pam explored the world, learned, cracked each other up, cried at sappy movies (and sometimes commercials), celebrated weddings and births and graduations, rode their tandem recumbent bicycle, debated heartily, worked puzzles of all kinds, cruised, cheered on their niece and nephews at sports events and performances, supported causes they cared about, collected art and friends wherever they went and shared grief and burdens.
Marci was a member of Lake Seminole Presbyterian Church, where she and Pam were active in the adult bible study group and frequently gathered members for Tuesday night movies (pre-COVID).
Marci was a member of a very rare species: Florida native. Born at St. Joseph’s hospital, she lived in the Tampa Bay area for most of her life. As the only girl among 4 boys, there were plenty of wild adventures in her early years – from swimming in a lake with an alligator named Albert to trying to send her brother Marvin to the moon in a rocket made from an old washing machine. While she loved her brothers dearly, when her brother Paul was born, her mother frequently found her praying beside his crib: “God, please change him into a girl.”
She wasn’t a princess among her brothers, but her dad’s ingenuity did give her the chance to be a mermaid after hearing her repeat “I want to be a mermaid” endlessly on the way home from Weeki Watchee Springs one weekend. With a bicycle, a hose and an air compressor rigged up beside the lake, he created a water-based memory she would always treasure.
Marci always marched to her own drum. When she found traditional high school wasn’t for her, she left and enrolled in Mirror Lake Adult Learning Center, where she met Sherry Oliver, a mentor who had a profound impact on her life. The smaller class sizes and individual attention were perfect for an introvert like her and she graduated ahead of her high school class. She went on to attend East Tennessee State University, where she met Dr. Flora Joy, another teacher and mentor, and eventually came back to Florida where she graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in accounting.
Marci spent the early part of her career as a nonprofit executive, later building a consulting practice (Nonprofit Finance Pros/Innergized) with Pam where they traveled around the world helping clients navigate transition and crisis. Marci loved the work and clients became lifelong friends.
Marci’s real passion, however, was writing. She wrote to understand and process the world. Over the years she had poems and essays published and started a small neighborhood newspaper with her brothers. They called it Justice, and the tag line was “Where else can you get justice for a nickel?” She wrote the advice column, “Dear Blabby.” In 2019 she realized a lifelong dream when her book, Love Letters from Your Life, with co-author, dear friend and mentor Mary Anne Radmacher, was published. We are grateful to the band of angels who helped make that dream a reality.
Marci was a love advocate and an encourager. No person was insignificant to her. Starting up a conversation with a complete stranger was one of her greatest joys. She believed in saying how she felt and held nothing back when it came to love. She believed deeply that there was good in the world and that people and relationships were precious gifts to be treasured. In her last few days, what she wanted more than anything was for people to know she loved them. She would want you to do the same.
We are thankful for the care Marci received from Dr. Nurridin Jooma and the team at Florida Cancer Specialists (Highland Office); Dr. Kevin Tralins and his team; Dr. Nick Okeson and the staff at Tristar Med; the Empath Palliative Care Team; and Drs. Waechter and Escobales and the team at Suncoast Hospice Mid-Pinellas Care Center (Woodside).
We are deeply grateful for the many people who sent funds for Operation Taxi, a legacy project, before Marci’s death. If you wish to honor her memory at this time, donations to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, Suncoast Hospice or METAvivor, Inc. would be greatly appreciated.
@
I am so grateful to have known Marci and to have had the opportunity to spend time with her. How wonderful that Marci lived her life so fully and so full of joy; that she loved deeply and was so loved in return. I hold Marci and Pam and their families close to my heart. Marci’s light will continue to shine through all those whose lives she touched. Love onward.
@
I am and was so fortunate to meet Marcie and Pam when I first moved to Seminole a year ago. They both made anyone they met feel accepted. Reading Marcie’s book was life changing for me. I will miss her very much and her big smile. I am forever grateful that life allowed us to cross paths, time treasured with her for sure.
@
Marci was always a light in my life and she challenged me to have more fun, connect more with others and to love without hesitation. Marci was a radiant, engaging women who exhibited grace, humor and love to all! Deepest sympathy to Pam and family at this difficult time.
@
Very sorry to hear this. I am sending my condolences to the remaining friend of ours. Marc was just a loving person who makes you feel loved. May her soul rest well. Moreen back in Rwanda.
@
Marci was one of a kind . Her love for others radiated with her every word. The gaping hole she left in our lives will never be filled by another.
@
Marci was a neighbor that I enjoyed visiting with when we would meet. I was so sad when I heard she had left us. She will be missed! She put up a great fight against the cancer that finally took her from us. Rest In Peace Marci.
@
Always remembering the time meeting up with Marci and Pam for a ride up the Pinellas Trail with Linda Osmundson to Tarpon Springs & back. You two were so symbiotic on your custom tandem bike that day, truly, simply and happily being with each other. Everyone should be so lucky.
Marci had a great presence in my home being such a close friend to Linda. I truly wish Linda could have been here to carry Marci as Marci and Pam carried her.
@
Pam, Marci will be missed by you, both of your families & friends. God knows the plan for us all. Prayers as you finish your journey here on earth. Marci is fine and has finished her earthly journey. How it will be in Heaven, only God knows. The Bible reminds us He never leaves us, he is with you in this time of need. Your not alone, you are loved. Aunt Sylvia
@
I went to the first of Patti Digh’s Camps in 2013. I was seated with 4 other women, two of which were Pam and Marci. I will never forget thinking on my drive home how much I wanted a love like they had…so supportive and loving with each other, and with everyone around them. The love that I saw then only grew over time, and I have been honored to be within that sphere of love, and within the larger sphere of Camp love–it changed my life that weekend, and I thank you both for it. Much Love Always…
@
I have never met someone as kind as marci and pam, when i met with marci and pam helped to change my mind, i was like someone who lost but thier advice, love and kindness made me feel happy and also having a hope, i leaned many things from marci and pam, they inspired me to be a better person, i will always miss marci, marci was very kind, it was blessing to have marci, some peaple tried to meet with marci here in Rwanda were all sad to hear marci passed, many blessings to her and pam.
Now she is in heaven.
Idrissa karangwa
@
On behalf of myself and the Palliative Care Team at Empath Health, we were honored to have met and cared for Marci for over two years. To her family, she was an inspiration. I am blessed to have met her and inspired by her grace, passion, knowledge, and zest for life. She will be missed but she will be remembered.
@
I just came across this and was so surprised to hear of Marci’s passing. I haven’t seen her in years but worked with her and for her, for some time at Suncoast Center. Always smart and engaging and a real pleasure.
I’m sure she’s still spreading joy
@
loveonward Marci. You touched so many lives and I am so grateful you touched mine.
@
I was in a Cancer Support Group with Marci. This group is very special. We all shared our trials, triumphs and sorrows. Marci was always there to listen and comment when she had suggestions or questions. She shared her book with us and reading it was healing. The last time I talked to Marci was when I was diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer and she wanted to share what she had learned to help me. Marci is an inspiration to our group and will never be forgotten.
Wanda Barker
@
Marci was a shining beacon of strength, encouragement and love to all she encountered. I always felt embraced by her conversation, her intelligence, her wit and her warmth. The love between she and Pam was evident from day one, serving as a guidepost for many of us seeking the same with our own marriages and partnerships. She thoughtfully sent cards, emails and messages of encouragement during some particularly dark moments. To this day, I still have one of the first she sent me up in my office: “The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy” ~ Eudora Welty. May we all look now through our grief for joy in the time we were allowed to spend with her and send our loving thoughts to her family & close friends, mourning deeply the passing of her great spirit. Her presence with us will be sorely missed and I feel grateful to have known her.
@
So thankful that I called Marci my friend. So appreciated her kind and caring emails/text when she would check in on me. So thankful for the memories made.
@
Marci was a treasure. Her joy of life was irrepressible and contagious. She inspires me to strive to be more caring, trusting, and open. My deepest condolences to Pam and family.
@
Often, people come into our lives when we need them most. So it was with Marci. Always energetic and enthusiastic, she was an encourager and an inspiration to me. When I met her in 1977, I was a young person in a very scary environment. She made me feel safe. Somehow, I knew right away that I could trust her. I knew she really cared. And we became friends. I never forgot her. Her smile. How she made me feel that, somehow, things would be okay in the end. The last year, I had the privilege of knowing her again and bringing her joy when she needed it. God has a funny way of bringing the circle back around. In Heaven, they are rejoicing now. My dad is rejoicing to see you again, Marci. We love you dearly.
@
Marci will be missed. I remember her showing me her book before it was published and how excited we both were about it. The book and the memory of her warm smile will be with me the rest of my life. I am blessed by all the rich conversations we shared over the years.
@
Marci brought love into the room with her. I feel so grateful to have known her, even though I only met her a few times. She always made me feel special.
@
I was blessed to have Marci in my life for just 3 short years. Her loving heart and joyful spirit were shared with everyone. She showed up with love. I hope to honor her by doing the same. Onward my friend, your light continues to shine. Jean
@
I am thankful for having the wonderful fortune to meet Marci through business and have that turn into a friendship to cherish. Sangria at Carmelita’s was always a special time together and the love she lived is something for us to live up to.
@
Marci was, and will always remain, a beautiful force of light and love in this world. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was blessed to know her.
@
Marci and I have been friends for 43 years, first meeting in a police administration class at St. Pete Junior College at age 19. We became fast friends. Even though we lived in different states at different times, we spoke often and it always felt like we had just seen each other. Being Marci’s friend has been such a gift. She was always so loving and caring, yet honest and real and her insights were invaluable. She’s been there for the lowest times of my life and held me up with her strength and love. I miss her terribly.
Jennifer Lacefield
@
I met my cousin Marci when she was 14 and I was 5. She and her parents and some of her brothers were with her catching the snow in our yard. She and her family lived in Florida, and Marci told me she had never seen snow before in person. She looked beautiful running through the yard catching the falling snow. I will never forget that image or her. I met her a few other times through the years, including when I went to cousin Sylvia’s (Cookie) funeral in 2001 in Smithfield, VA. Marci was telling everybody she’s always known me since I was a little girl. I looked up to her. Marci was very smart, and beautiful, and a light in this world that will be missed. Marci, I hope you see some beautiful & heavenly snow where you are in the warmth & love of Jesus. My condolences to the family.
@
I start every morning in a ritual using Love Letter from Your Heart by Marci. Even though I had met her only a few times at Life Is A Verb camp over the years, she touched my heart as another cancer survivor during that time, a club no one wants to be a member of in their lifetime. I followed she and Pam on Facebook since 2018, so I have been a cheerleader from a distance and celebrated all their gods news postings with them. Blessings always!???
Lynda Irvin
LIAV camper???
@
I first met Pam and Marci professionally, but they each, individually and corporately, became very dear to me. I loved seeing the way one would look at the other, and their laughs will always ring in my memories. I loved Marci’s candor and openness, and was touched when she told me, early in our relationship, what she liked most about me. I’ll always treasure that she shared the way she saw me; it made me feel like the very best version of myself. What a gift for one person to give another.
@
Marci and I were born within 4 days of each other. I always felt close to her even though we were always separated by distance. I still can’t believe she’s gone. I’m sure there was a fantastic reception in heaven considering all the family that was there waiting. I love you Marci and you are dearly missed.
Mike Olkives
@
I learned a lot about living with love from Marci and Pam. That love stays in my heart. I was inspired and hope I will continue to share what I learned.