Marsha Wright Walper

Marsha Walper passed away May 22, 2025 after a long struggle with cancer. Throughout her illness Marsha was always looking towards the future. She was born in Washington D.C. on February 15, 1947, and lived in an apartment overlooking the Pentagon where her father worked to develop radar guidance systems and her mother worked for the Navy tracking enemy ships.
Marsha had a gift for languages and a love for words. Her love of languages grew when she took German at Sarasota High School. She continued her study of German at FSU where she received her bachelor and master's degrees. While at FSU, she was an active member of Tri Delta Sorority. As part of her master's program for German, she studied in Austria. She also studied at Middlebury College in Vermont. Marsha retired as a Latin teacher from Godby High School. In addition to teaching Latin, she was also certified to teach German, Spanish and French. Sunday afternoons at our house often included Latin students preparing for local, state or national Latin competition. When some of her students wanted to learn web design and computer programming, she taught herself html and C++ so she could teach these computer classes. Marsha helped Godby High School earn several large technology grants which included her own computer lab and a grant to network the school. She received a National Endowment of Humanities award to study Latin at the University of Georgia and a grant to study Spanish in Costa Rica. She was voted teacher of the year at Godby in 1998, and was also recognized as Teacher of the Year by the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.
Marsha was an active volunteer. She volunteered at the Tallahassee Museum and the Tallahassee Junior League where she chaired the Thymes Remembered Cookbook, the Post-Publication Committee, and the Whale of a Sale.
Her father, who worked as an electrical engineer for RCA, taught her to sew when she was in the fifth grade. In retirement she was able to pursue her love of quilting. Like her quilting mentor, Linda O'Sullivan, she was always eager to share her knowledge of quilting with others. She was honored as the Tallahassee Quilting Guild's Distinguished Quilter in 2015, and won many annual challenge quilt awards. Her quilts also received recognition and awards from national shows in Paducah, KY, Houston, TX along with awards from Jacksonville and Daytona Beach Florida shows.
Marsha was grounded by her faith. She served as an elder and deacon at Faith Presbyterian Church and taught Sunday School for young children. Her favorite scripture was Matthew 6:25-34. Marsha had a wonderful gift of helping and leading others in a quiet way. "Preach the gospel and when necessary use words" was how she lived her life. Her husband, Frank often called her his "Proverbs 31 lady" and loved her as the most contented person he had ever met.
Marsha leaves to cherish her loving memory her husband Frank, her brother Paul Wright, her grandchildren Carley, Jacob, Porter and Tucker Brown, and her daughter's fiancé Paul Williams, Jr. She was predeceased by her father Clarence Wright, her mother Martha Wilson Wright, her stepmother Irene Wright and her daughter Meredith Brown.
A memorial service will be held at Faith Presbyterian Church of Tallahassee on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 1:00pm with a reception to immediately follow.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" Tallahassee Chapter which provides beds for children in need. shpbeds.org/chapter/fl-tallahassee/
Breanna Green of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the Walper family with their arrangements.