Dr. Marie Elaine Peine

Dr. Marie Elaine Peine died at her home at Shepherd Village in Shepherdstown, West Virginia on November 14, 2025.

Born in Canton, Ohio, on October 16, 1945 to the late Charles and Mary Preston, and raised on a small family farm in Bowerston with her older brother Dick and twin sister Margaret, Marie cooked everything from scratch, could identify any bird, and never stopped being a teacher. She received her bachelor's degree from Capitol University, where she toured internationally with the prestigious Chapel Choir and played doubles on the tennis team. She met her husband John when they were both graduate students at the University of Arizona, where she received her master's degree. After 20 years as a gifted education teacher and school administrator in Sevier County, Tennessee, Marie earned her PhD in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and spent 11 years as the director of Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Alongside her distinguished career, Marie wove baskets, canned vegetables from her garden, read voraciously, and created inventive cocktails for her family and friends. Marie was a meticulous and reverent observer and passionate defender of the natural world. She taught her two daughters to make a perfect pie crust, to always seek new adventures, and to live life on their own terms, just as she did. She delighted in her two granddaughters who will treasure the love, curiosity, and playful spirit that she shared with them.

She is survived by two daughters, Mary Anne Hitt and husband, Nathaniel of Shepherdstown, WV and Emelie Kaye Peine and husband, Jack Sasser of Tacoma, WA, two grandchildren, Hazel Hitt and Sadie Sasser, one sister, Margaret Beyer, one sister-in-law, Donna Preston and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her beloved husband, John in 2021, one brother, John Richard Preston and one brother-in-law, Jon Beyer.

Marie spent her final years in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and will be deeply missed at her home in Shepherd Village and beyond.

The family request memorial donations be made to Shepherdstown Shares and Friends of the Smokies.

Services are pending.