Marion Bergin

1922 - 2014

Marion Finn Bergin, 91

WORCESTER - Marion (Finn) Bergin, aged 91, long-time educator and administrator, died peacefully Thursday, March 27, at the Notre Dame du Lac Long Term Care and Hospice Center. A long-time resident of Worcester, in recent years she resided in West Boylston.

Born April 7, 1922, in St. Albans, Vermont, and known by her French sobriquet "Fille," Ms. Bergin spent her early childhood on the family farm with younger brothers John and James. When she was 9 years old, her mother died and soon after her father was elected county sheriff and moved the family uptown, where she witnessed first hand how he used his office to help the less fortunate, a theme that was to continue throughout her life.

Graduating from UVM in 1944 with a Bachelor of Science degree, Marion found work as a lab technician at Boston University Hospital, meeting her husband, Joseph D. Bergin, a surgeon and Worcester native. They settled in Worcester, where their three sons were born. Soon thereafter, Dr. Bergin died in an auto accident, leaving Marion to raise the children alone.

In the ensuing years, Marion focused her considerable energies on raising her family in the close-knit Newton Square-area neighborhood shared with her supportive in-laws and anchored by Blessed Sacrament parish and grammar school. The family spent summers in a rambling cottage on Lake Champlain with relatives on the Finn side of the family (and Bergin cousins as well as neighborhood friends often came along for a week or two). They also sojourned to Vermont each Christmas to celebrate the holidays at the long-time Finn family home in St. Albans, where her brother was sheriff, as was their father before him.

By 1963, Marion had decided to return to the workforce, first as a volunteer then to work in a preschool program at Worcester's Youth Guidance Center for the developmentally disabled. After completing an intensive teacher training program (during a summer semester at her alma mater UVM), within the next few years she earned certification in Special Education and held various teaching positions in the Worcester public schools, including Doherty Memorial High. In 1975, Marion was promoted to Evaluation Team Chairperson, developing and monitoring education-support plans for "mainstreaming" special needs students into the regular classroom under the state's historic Chapter 766 law. At about this time, Marion earned her Masters in Education from Worcester State College. In the late 1980s, she retired from the Worcester public schools to pursue her interests, including several trips to Europe. Not long after, she answered a colleague's call to help establish the Learning Assistance Center at Quinsigamond Community College, serving as coordinator for almost 10 years before finally retiring at age 79. When asked why she worked until that advanced age, she replied, " It was fun." A plaque commemorating her dedication to students with disabilities hangs in the center's audio-visual assistance room.

Along with dedication to family and profession, Marion was active in many civic and cultural organizations, including Friends of the Worcester Public Library and the Greater Worcester Political Caucus. In particular, she was a member of the Worcester County Poetry Association from its inception, hosting many post-reading salons at her home on Coombs Road, something of a Worcester bed-and-breakfast for nationally known poets. True to her Vermont political roots, she volunteered on a number of local electoral campaigns and often advocated for the disadvantaged or politically disenfranchised. Known for her energy and intellectual curiosity, her bedside reading table was piled high with volumes on many subjects. She was a quick study on the latest psychological trends of the day, from mastering the "I'm OK, You're OK" guide to Transactional Analysis to perfecting the Silva Mind Method's technique of materializing a parking spot in a crowded downtown. Always game for an excursion, an impassioned philosophical discussion, or a tête-à-tête over dinner out, her many friends ranged from college professors and published poets to younger teacher colleagues, schoolmates from years past, and new and former neighbors. Her interests included playing the baby grand piano in her living room and attending Dave Brubeck jazz concerts.

She is survived by her son Joseph D. Bergin and partner Theresa McAweeney, son James S. Bergin and wife Sarah, and son John P. Bergin and wife Patricia, all of the Boston area. Also, sisters-in-law Betty Finn of St. Albans, Vermont, and Jane Finn of Lewiston, NY. And many loving nieces and nephews on both Bergin and Finn sides of the family as well as many dear friends. Her brothers, John and James, predeceased her.

Marion's family is deeply appreciative of the remarkable care and kindness extended to her at UMass Medical, Beaumont Rehabilitation Center, and Notre Dame Long Term Care Center and Hospice.

Relatives and friends are invited to call on Friday, April 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Athy Memorial Home, 111 Lancaster St., Worcester. The funeral will be Saturday, April 5, from the funeral home with a Mass at 11 a.m. in Blessed Sacrament Church, 555 Pleasant St., Worcester. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery, Worcester.

In lieu of flowers, in memoriam donations may be made to Abby's House, 52 High St., Worcester, MA 01609, an overnight emergency shelter for women, and an organization of which Marion was a long-time supporter.