Thursday, March 1, 2007 Older Editions

Marcia L. Tatarunis

Marcia L. Tatarunis, 78, of Andover, died at her home on Wednesday, Feb. 21, after a long illness.

She was born in Arlington, daughter of the late Harold and Katherine Lovering. She graduated from Arlington High School and The Lowell State Teachers College in 1950 where she majored in music education. This is where she met her husband Dr. Alphonse M. Tatarunis.

She spent most of her professional life in Groveland, teaching classroom music and instrumental music until her retirement in 1993.

Mrs. Tatarunis will be remembered for the many Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas she directed to raise money for the scholarship fund for The Pentucket Regional School District and will be remembered for the original musicals she presented that included every classroom in the school. She also taught in the Amesbury and Boxford Public Schools and at the Pike School in Andover.

After retirement, she enjoyed traveling and reading and was an avid fan of the Red Sox and the Patriots.

Family members include her husband of 55 years; her daughter, Dr. Paula A. Tatarunis and her husband Darrell Katz of Waltham; her son, Steven M. Tatarunis and his wife Celia Atkinson of Methuen; grandsons, Michael Donohue of Waltham and Scott and his wife Jill Atkinson of Pelham, N.H.; great-granddaughter, Morgan Atkinson; brothers, Gerald Lovering of Harwich, Richard of The Villages in Florida; and her sister-in-law, Sophie Sluskonis of Andover.

ARRANGEMENTS: Calling hours are this Saturday, March 3, from 10 a.m. to noon at The Charles F. Dewhirst Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Methuen. Memorial service will be at noon on Saturday, March 3, at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Merrimack Valley Hospice, 360 Merrimack St., Bldg. 9, Lawrence, MA 01843.