Marcia E. Willemen Sutter, 87

September 26, 2020

Marcia Ellen Willemen Sutter, 87, of Lancaster, went home to be with the Lord on September 26, 2020 at her home, with her loving family by her side. She was born on April 4, 1933 in Lindenhurst, NY to the late Gertrude Hartman Willemen and Peter Willemen. She married Philip H. Sutter on June 13, 1955 on the day she graduated from Cornell University.

Marcia graduated from Lindenhurst High School as valedictorian and top athlete. She graduated from Cornell in 1955 with a degree in Botany. She was captain of the volleyball team and started a women’s fencing team. While at Cornell and in the summer, she worked in a Cornell USDA lab and later worked at the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station from 1955 to 1958.

After Philip joined the Franklin and Marshall College faculty, they moved to Lancaster. She led many organizations at F&M including the Women’s Organization and Infirmary Auxiliary. She supported her alma mater as President of the Cornell Club of Lancaster. Marcia was very active in the North Museum. She was President of the Associates board and a member of the corporate board. She received the Volunteer of the Year award in 2004. She restarted the Muhlenberg Botanical Society and was its president.

Marcia loved nature and family get-togethers in the Adirondacks. Her favorite animal was the moose and she traveled to see them each year. She loved to travel and visited every state, Canada, and made many journeys to South America, most of Europe, Greenland, Iceland, Africa and parts of Asia including Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. She lived in New Zealand for a year and visited many Pacific islands on the way there and back. She studied nature with the Wellington Botanical Society and studied Maori culture at Wellington University.

She was a life-long Lutheran and was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster.

Marcia will be dearly missed by her husband of 65 years, Philip Henry Sutter, and sons; Alan, married to Anne Tunis Sutter, of Lancaster, Carl, married to Theresa Reiser, of Long Beach, CA, Steven, married to Ingrid Weisel Sutter of Concord, MA, and Neil, married to Nita Supattra, of Lancaster. She is also survived by her grandchildren; Zachary, Sarah, Jordan, Thomas, Rebecca, Nathan, Nolan, and Penelope Sutter.

A Funeral Service will be held Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 2:00PM at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 31 S. Duke St., Lancaster, PA. Guests will be received prior to the service starting at 1:00PM. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Lancaster County Conservancy at 117 S West End Ave, Lancaster, PA 17603.