Marion E. Rhode

Marion Beckett Rhode:

A Woman For All Seasons

Marion Beckett Rhode, 87, of Vienna, Virginia, died at home on November 28 after a courageous twelve-year battle with cancer.

Marion was a true “Woman for All Seasons.” Smart, hard-working, fearless, and caring, she epitomized the woman who could do anything, anywhere, anytime. She loved teaching, drama, travel, and adventure. She loved life, and life loved her.

She was born in Southampton, England, in 1938, shortly before the start of World War II. Southampton received many punishing attacks by German bombers, so two-year-old Marion was evacuated to Wales to get her out of danger. This may have been where she acquired her language facility, as her primary language was Welsh, and she had to learn English when she returned to England.

She graduated from the Wolverhampton High School for Girls, then became the first in her family to attend college, going to Durham University’s St. Hild’s College. She loved college, where she studied French, Latin, Greek, and Comparative Religions. She followed an existing love –dramatic arts– acting in many plays, and glorying in watching Shakespeare’s Macbeth played on the battlements of Durham Castle. She also discovered a new love, rowing. She joined the St. Hild’s women’s team, rowing as the “Stroke” on the four person crew. She enjoyed being on a crew so much she claimed she didn’t even mind chipping ice off the shell to enable early morning practice on the Wear river.

After graduation, she taught high school in Wolverhampton, where she introduced students to the glories of travel and adventure. She took a group of students on a night-time climb up 3000-foot-high Helvellyn Mountain to watch the sunrise, then led them on an exhilarating run down the scree-covered mountainside. She took another group on a trip to Germany, cruising down the Rhine while teaching them about German culture and history.

Later, she realized one of her life’s dreams, moving to London. Here, she taught high school, delighted in attending plays at The Globe Theatre, and loved exploring the streets and alleys that had been frequented by Chaucer and Shakespeare.

In her “spare time”, our Woman for All Seasons became an amateur archeologist, participating in digs at Hadrian’s Wall, and winning a grant to travel to Crete. In Crete she helped excavate ruins at Knossos, marveling at treasures such as 3500-year-old vials of perfume, still sealed with liquid inside. It was hot in summer-time Crete, so our intrepid explorer often slept on the beach.

In 1964 she married Martin Beckett, who was beginning a career as a hotelier. They set out to work their way around the world, stopping in Boston, Topeka, and Chicago. Marion discovered her British teaching credentials were not recognized in U.S. public schools, so, as a versatile “All Seasons” person, she worked at a dry-cleaners in Boston, the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, and at the British Consulate in Chicago.

Next stop was a return to London, where Martin was charged with setting up the European headquarters for the rapidly expanding Marriott Corporation. Here Marion thrived as a mother, looking out for two young boys amidst the delights of living in suburban London.

After a wonderful three years, Marion and Martin returned to the U.S., moving to Vienna, Virginia, to what would become her home for the next 50 years. Here Marion found her “Dream Job”, as a teacher and then as Assistant Head of School at Green Hedges School, a private school that treasured her British teaching credentials. Marion brought her love of theater to Green Hedges, writing and directing numerous student plays. She also brought her love of travel, conducting trips to locales as varied as the United Kingdom, Williamsburg, and the Outer Banks.

Marion gloried in being a mother, and Vienna was the perfect place to raise two active boys. She spent many days as a swimming team volunteer and as a Marshall High School band mother and trip chaperone.

After over fifteen years in Vienna, Marion and Martin threw caution to the winds to realize another dream –owning their own hotel. They purchased the Kildare Lodge in Somerset, England, where they worked together, turning it into a thriving year-round holiday destination as well as a local gathering place.

After five years at the Kildare, Martin and Marion were presented with a purchase offer too good to refuse, so they sold the hotel and returned to their home in Vienna. Green Hedges School was excited to invite Marion back as Assistant Head, and she settled in again as the school’s chief mentor, day-to-day manager, theatrical director, and enthusiastic cheerleader. She loved being back at her favorite school.

Unfortunately, Martin died in 2001. Marion treasured Green Hedges even more at this difficult time, as she found solace in throwing herself into long hours, working ever harder at managing school activities. She also focused on her two young grandchildren, who she loved very much, and who brought great happiness into her life.

Marion loved living near Wolftrap National Park for the Performing Arts. After Martin’s death, she volunteered as an usher and audience director. She became one of the Park’s valued “old-timers”, proudly wearing her twenty-year volunteer pin. She found many kindred spirits among the other volunteers, and enjoyed the opportunity to see the variety of top-notch shows and famous artists who performed at The Filene Center.

Five years after Martin’s death, Marion decided it was time to retire. Almost immediately, she embarked on an excitement-filled trip to South Africa, Botswana, and other exotic locales, living in tents and enjoying close-up views of elephants, lions, and other wildlife. She also set off on a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, sailing in a junk, sampling different foods, visiting historic temples, and viewing the sobering reminders of the decades-long war.

At this time, she happened to meet another widowed person, Storm Rhode, and another life-changing relationship was forged. Marion embraced Storm’s family and was embraced in return. To Storm, she brought two sons and two grandchildren. In return, she gained a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. Wonderful Marion even reached out to Storm’s former mother-in-law, the mother of his late wife, and they became best friends.

Marion and Storm joined together in all sorts of travel and adventures. They visited countries from Turkey to Norway, from Iceland to Morocco, from Argentina to Panama, with distant states such as Alaska and Hawaii added in. Trips to California were already on the schedule, but they picked up in frequency when a great-granddaughter joined the family.

Her adventures included hot air balloon rides, dog-sledding over glaciers, small plane rides over Victoria Falls, snorkeling in the Caribbean, and serving as a “winch wench” during a race on an America’s Cup 15-Meter sailboat.

Life with Marion was indeed good, and she made it better for all around her. She loved the simplest things, marveling at sunsets, rainbows, and birds at the birdfeeder, and happily shared them with whoever was nearby.

Throughout all her successes, all her travels, and all her adventures, she never took life’s glories for granted. When asked how she wanted to be remembered, she answered in the context of the old question, ”Are you a glass half-empty or a glass half-full kind of person?”. Marion said, “I am just grateful to have a glass.”

Marion was a member of The Church of The Holy Comforter in Vienna, Virginia. She was predeceased by her mother, Ivy Gould, her father, Raymond Gould, and her first husband, Richard Martin Beckett. She is survived by her husband, Storm Rhode III; son David Beckett and wife Jacqueline of Englewood, Colorado; son Stephen Beckett of Richmond, Virginia; stepson Storm Rhode IV and wife Inge Vermeylen of Hermitage, Tennessee; stepdaughter Jacqueline and husband Jeffrey Longbottom of San Pedro, California; a sister, Hilary Mackey of Groomsport, Northern Ireland; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at The Church of the Holy Comforter at 11:00 AM on Saturday, 13 December. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.