Marsha Jean McDonald

Marsha Jean Vercelli McDonald February 15, 1953 - January 17, 2025
Marsha passed peacefully Friday afternoon almost four years after a Lewy Body Dementia with Parkinson's diagnosis. She looked forward to reuniting with her mother, Mildred Russell Vercelli who passed in 2017.
Marsha grew up in Ypsilanti in the Prospect Park neighborhood on Vinewood Court where she attended Forest Avenue Baptist Church and Prospect/Adams Elementary School, East Junior High and Ypsilanti High School where she graduated as the Salutatorian for the class of '71. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University in three years where she received her teaching degree and moved to Australia. When she returned to Michigan she spent a year completing her masters degree at EMU while also employed there.
She was a teacher for a time but also served as Administrative Assistant to the City Manager in Adrian while refurbishing an historic home she purchased with her mother in Tecumseh. After that adventure she returned to EMU and was employed there as a Senior Secretary in the Office of Housing and Residence Life but also worked in many other areas of the university, often volunteered and received the Emeritus Staff Award in 2016 after a total of twenty-eight years at the time of her retirement.
Marsha was active in her beloved Ypsilanti community with Heritage Festival where she guided tours of Historic Homes and was involved in various social societies. She enjoyed traveling the world with her mother, friends and later with her loving companion of over twenty years Steve Brown who passed in 2021. She was a fiercely loyal friend who enjoyed the many cards she received from her classmates and coworkers even in her last days. Marsha signed every card and email with "Braves Forever" as a tribute to her beloved Ypsilanti High School.
Marsha was fortunate to have the loving care of her nurse Alex of Open Arms Hospice while in Ashley Court in Brighton and retired nurse friend Nancy Miller who visited throughout her last year. It was an honor to assist her these last few years.
Marsha requested cremation and interment at the columbarium of Brookside Cemetery in Tecumseh, MI.