Marianne Preger-Simon

1929 - 2024

Marianne Preger-Simon

Addison, VT - November 22, 2024, Marianne Simon, dancer, educator, therapist, died peacefully in hospice care in her daughter's home, surrounded in her final days by the music and love of family and friends.

Born April 18, 1929, Marianne grew up in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of Paul and Esther Preger, a businessman and Freudian psychoanalyst, respectively, along with her dear older brother Paul. After two years at Cornell University she spent her junior year abroad in Paris, studying dance, theater and drawing, befriending many Europeans and Americans in the arts.

After returning to the U.S., she was a founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, with which she danced from 1950 through 1958. During those years she also completed her Bachelor's degree at NYU and taught dance, drama, and world literature at the progressive New Lincoln School in Manhattan. She attended acting classes at The Dramatic Workshop in New York City. Actors Tony Franciosa and Ben Gazzara were her classmates and friends, and she acted with them on Broadway in Moliere's The Misanthrope.

She married educator Sidney Simon in 1957 and left the stage and school teaching to start a family. From 1960-65, the Simons lived in Lido Beach, Long Island, while Sid taught at Queens College and Marianne raised their two young children, Julianna and Matthew, and taught dance in the community. Summers were spent at their remote farm in the Adirondack Mountains, where Sid's sons from a previous marriage, John and Doug, joined the family. Following Sid's career at Temple University and then University of Massachusetts, they moved to Elkins Park, near Philadelphia in 1965 and Amherst, Mass in 1969 where Marianne received her Doctor of Education degree.

She joined the consulting group Values Associates with Sid, Howie Kirschenbaum and Merrill Harmin and for two decades led workshops and courses on values clarification, re-evaluation counseling, mother-daughter relationships, and other personal growth topics. Workshop participants-and virtually all who knew her--were consistently moved and inspired by her ebullient spirit, welcoming heart, creativity, wisdom, guitar-playing and inclusive singing. In the 1970s she also began a career as psychotherapist, practicing out of her home for the next 40 years. She was the author of two books: Heart by Heart: Mothers and Daughters Listening to Each Other: An Anthology of Stories; and a memoir Dancing With Merce Cunningham, published by University of Florida Press.

After Marianne and Sid's marriage ended in 1972, she met and in 1979 married the artist and illustrator J. Thomas Leamon, a WWII veteran and author of Tom's Toe. They lived the next 40 years in Whately, MA in a loving, mutually supportive, exuberant relationship until Tom's death in 2019, hosting many gatherings of family and friends, often for raucous sing alongs. Marianne loved music, from Mozart to Woodie Guthrie (sporting a vanity plate: AMADE). In Whately, she was a dedicated election volunteer, often serving as "the crank" (operating intake of the 19th century ballot box), and she and Tom served together on the Cultural Council. She was the anonymous poet of The Whately Scoop, and remained active in her Sunday evening writing group up until her death.

On the back cover of one of her books, Marianne described herself as, "Married twice, she has birthed two children and was blessed with four more through marriage." Along with their spouses and progeny, surviving her, grieving her loss, celebrating her life, and blessing her memory are: Julianna Parker and Dale Whitlock of Addison, VT, and granddaughter Sophia Parker, and grandsons Fynn and Camden Whitlock; Matt Simon and Oksana Bagdasarova of Fort Myers, FL, and grandson Andre; John Simon and Lynne Jackier of Ithaca, NY, and grandchildren Emma Coty, Jake Miller, Rosie Simon, and Kenzey Simon, along with five great-grandchildren; Doug Simon and Rose Babayan of Escondido, CA; Martin Leamon of San Francisco and grandchildren Ben and Isabel; Christine Leamon of Whately, MA, and grandchildren Lizzie and Becca; nieces Lisa, June and Mary; nephew Ali Munif Seden, Al D. Seden, and the whole beloved Turkish branch of family; nephews Brad and Bryant Simon; and many dear friends.

Contributions in Marianne's memory may be made to Merce Cunningham Trust in NYC; or Julianna and Sophia's Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue in Addison, Vermont.