Marjorie Frances Task

On Thursday January 30, 2025 beloved wife and mother Marjorie Frances Task passed away at the age of 79 after an extended battle with health issues. She is survived by her husband, Harry Lee Task; daughter, Christine; sister, Nancy (McSain) and brother, John. She was preceded in death by her older sister, Carolyn.

Marjorie had many interests and hobbies but probably the ones that she enjoyed the most were reading, teaching English, socializing and singing in the choir (especially at the First United Methodist Church of Tucson). She also very much enjoyed music, poetry, needlework, and travel as well as writing and telling stories. During her lifetime she got the opportunity to visit many museums, monuments, amusement parks and other places of interest throughout the world. She travelled to many countries including Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Denmark, Turkey, Greece, the island of Crete, Spain, France, England, the Netherlands, Germany and most of the states in the USA.

Marjorie was born to Charles and Audrey Howard in Dayton, Ohio in 1945 and grew up in the Dayton area. She graduated from Colonel White High School (Dayton) in 1964 then attended college at Ohio University (OU) in Athens, OH, where she met her future husband in her junior year. She graduated from OU with a BA degree in Psychology in 1968. Marjorie and Lee were married in April 1970 and mostly lived in the Dayton area until November 2005, which is when they moved to Tucson, Arizona. Marjorie and Lee lived in Tucson, AZ during the 1976-1977 school year as Lee’s employer sent him to attend the University of Arizona and they lived in Boston, MA area during the 1984-1985 school year as Lee was sent to attend MIT for a year. The year they spent in Tucson is what gave them the idea they might want to retire to Tucson when it was time to retire. During the year at Boston, MA Marjorie did a wonderful job of introducing their 4 year old daughter to the museums and culture of Boston.

During the time Marjorie and Lee lived in the Dayton area Marjorie earned a Master’s Degree in English from the University of Dayton (1994) and a Master’s Degree in Psychology (Human Factors) from Wright State University (2003). She also successfully completed all requirements for a PhD (except the dissertation) at Wright State University (2005).

Marjorie had several occupations during her lifetime starting with working in the toy department at Sears in Dayton, Ohio during her high school years. Over the next several

decades she worked as a Girl Scout Field Director, a medical social worker, a welfare social field worker, a Training Specialist for the Air Force, a technical writer, a travel agent and an adjunct professor of English at three different colleges in Dayton, OH and Tucson, AZ. Additionally, she served as a docent volunteer for the National Museum of the Air Force (over 1,000 hours) in Dayton, OH, as a docent for the Tucson Botanical Gardens, as a docent for the Tucson Museum of Art and as a docent for the Arizona State Museum in Tucson.

In addition to her academic accomplishments, Marjorie had a significant impact on the lives of many college students attending her English classes (she received excellent reviews from her students). She also wrote 3 books (one children’s book that was self-published, a science fiction book and a romance book; both unpublished). She was a past member of Mensa. Probably her most significant achievement was serendipitous as she was seated next to an internist doctor at a state dinner in Ankara, Turkey who inquired as to what pills she was taking before eating. Marjorie explained to him that she was lactose (milk sugar) intolerant and was taking lactase pills to help her digest the lactose. The doctor explained lactose intolerance was a significant problem in Turkey and that he was not aware of the Lactaid product (lactase). When Marjorie returned to the USA she wrote to the Lactaid Corporation and provided the doctor’s contact information. The Lactaid Corporation followed up and sent a letter to the doctor and provided Marjorie with a copy of the letter. The Lactaid Corporation sent Marjorie a handwritten letter thanking her for the Turkish contact information and provided her with a box of Lactaid. Basically, this sequence of events helped introduce lactase to the country of Turkey, thanks to Marjorie’s efforts. She often would help people in this fashion if it was something in her power to do.

Marjorie will be sorely missed by her husband, daughter, sister, brother and many, many others that knew her. Much love always and forever.