Mariana Moran Grove

MARIANA MORAN GROVE

(Age 72)

A fourth generation Washingtonian well-known in social circles for her personal style and elegant entertaining, died unexpectedly on August 26, 2006 at Georgetown University Hospital. She was the daughter of the late Judge James O'Donnell Moran and Cecilia Alfaro Moran. Her grandfather was P.T. Moran, a prominent business and civic leader in Washington, D.C. Horacio F. Alfaro, her maternal grandfather, served as the Panamanian Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States in Washington in 1931.

Mrs. Grove graduated from Holton Arms School in 1951. She made her debut at the Sulgrave Club that same year. During her summer teenage years, she visited her grandparents and cousins in Panama. A 1955 Smith College graduate with a major in Spanish and Art, she spent her Junior Year Abroad in Madrid, Spain. Following college, Mrs. Grove modeled clothing in the tea room of Julius Garfinkels Company and did freelance modeling. She participated in the first few Hexagon musical spoofs produced for the benefit of Children's Hospital in its early years.

Her marriages to Michael J. Parsons and Edward Stitt Fleming, M.D. ended in divorce. Shortly after graduating from Smith College she married Michael Parsons, son of Charles "Chick" Parsons, a decorated World War II Navy commander under General Douglas MacArthur. Parsons became a famous American spy in the Philippines. Mrs. Grove raised her two children in the Philippines during her 12-year marriage to Mr. Parsons. During her marriage of 15 years to Dr. Fleming, founder of Psychiatric Institutes of America, in Washington, she traveled extensively, including on numerous European and Caribbean sailing adventures. Together they founded Fleming and Meers, an antique English furniture store in Georgetown.

During the last 18 years, Mrs. Grove was married to Brandon Grove, a Foreign Service Officer and former Ambassador to Zaire, currently president of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington, whom she met here. She later traveled to Zaire, where her future husband proposed to her on a bluff overlooking the vast game preserve of Virunga.

Mrs. Grove began a career as a real estate agent in 1992. Although she was diagnosed with Wegener's Disease in 1994, she continued to work. At the time of her death, she was active at Coldwell Banker Residential Properties. She was a former member of the Junior League of Washington, chairman of Special Events at the Women's Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art from 1999 to 2001, and at the Sulgrave Club served on its board and as secretary from 2002 to 2004. She supported The Immaculate Conception School at 8th and N Streets. She served as chairman of the Hispanic Designers Show, an event organized with Carolina Herrera, and as co-chairman of the Travelers Aid Ball.

Her son, Carlos Parsons, died in the Philippines in 1982.

Survivors include her husband, Brandon Grove of Washington, D.C.; a daughter, Michele Parsons Shotts, who is a fashion executive in New York City; two grandchildren of Brooklyn, NY, and a sister, Alicia Moran Ravenel, of Chevy Chase, MD. She was a step-mother to Brandon Grove's four children, John, Catherine Jones, Paul and Mark.

A memorial service will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 8th and N Streets, NW at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, September 15. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Immaculate Conception School, 8th and N Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20001.