Marie Van Fossen, church volunteer, retired preschool teacher, and neighborhood ‘saint,’ has died at 84
She was especially attentive to those she encountered on the edges of comfort and safety. “She always seemed to gravitate toward those who were hurting in life,” her family said.
Marie Van Fossen, 84, of Philadelphia, church volunteer, retired preschool teacher, and the beloved “St. Marie” to many, died Thursday, March 19, of a heart attack at her daughter’s home in Andorra.
Born at Misericordia Hospital in West Philadelphia, reared on Umbria Street in Manayunk, and known as “St. Marie” on and around Martin Street in Roxborough, Mrs. Van Fossen was a neighborhood paragon, sort of like her beloved Phillie Phanatic, for the lifelong energy, commitment, humor, and compassion she poured into her family, friends, and neighbors.
She taught young students for years at the Forever Friends Child Care and Preschool on Walnut Lane, and was a longtime fixture at St. John the Baptist Church and school in Manayunk. She volunteered in the school library and cafeteria, chaperoned school field trips, and assisted the Home and School Association in all kinds of ways.
She manned a booth at every church Christmas bazaar and accompanied several sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to their doctor appointments. She listened earnestly to everybody’s problems, her loved ones said, and offered usually sound advice if asked. She even helped folks find jobs.
“She impacted so many lives in such a positive way,” longtime friend Marty Miller said.
She was especially attentive to those she encountered on the edges of comfort and safety. “She always seemed to gravitate toward those who were hurting in life,” her family said in a tribute.
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Though religious, they said, she was “never preachy. Her actions said it all.”
Mrs. Van Fossen championed education and perseverance. Neighbors trusted her with their spare house keys and flocked to her home on Martin Street to chitchat on the porch and celebrate Opening Day of the Phillies season.
She reared a daughter, Sharon, and two sons, Richard Jr. and Daniel, in Roxborough, and carted them all over town to this place and that event for years. She gave heartfelt pep talks while driving, they said, and hosted more raucous sleepovers than they can remember.
“It was everyone’s house,” her son Richard said. Her daughter said: “She was my best friend.”
A dozen other kids called her Mom, too, and at least one of them sent her Mother’s Day cards for years. A longtime family friend said online: “In a thousand voices from our old neighborhood, I can still remember her voice, smile, and her awesome laugh.”
Her family said: “If there was a book entitled How to Be a Mother, Marie would have been the author."
Marie Patricia Varga was born June 21, 1941. She grew up close to her parents and her aunt and uncle, who lived nearby in Manayunk, and her younger sister, Rose.
She hung out often at Michael’s steak shop with friends from Leverington Avenue, danced the night away on weekends in Wildwood, and graduated from Little Flower High School. She married Richard Van Fossen, and they had Richard Jr., Daniel, and Sharon. They divorced later.
Mrs. Van Fossen “had a way of pulling people in and making them feel so special,” a friend said in a tribute. Another said: “She always made life better for all of those around her.”
She enjoyed taking family and friends on memorable getaways to Hilton Head, S.C. She followed the Phillies and the Eagles closely, told funny stories about life in Philadelphia, and doted on her grandchildren, dogs, and cats.
“Every time you spent with her, you walked away feeling better about yourself,” Miller said. “She was like a second mom to me.” Friends Speedy and Mimi Morris said: “She always had a smile on her face.”
Her longtime best friend was named Marie, too, so everybody called them the two Maries. “She was a nonjudgmental, kind, humble person,” her family said, “and that is precisely why people were drawn to her.”
Her son Richard said: “Her mission in life was really all about love. She was the best.”
In addition to her children and sister, Mrs. Van Fossen is survived by four grandchildren and other relatives.
Services were held earlier.
Donations in her name may be made to Friends of St. John the Baptist Church, 146 Rector St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127; and the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market St., Suite 750, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.
