Marian Banner

1914 - 2017

Marian Banner passed away on December 11th at the age of 102 . She is survived by her husband Paul, who she was married to for almost 74 years, her three children, Carl, Dan and Peter, and two grandchildren, Gabriel and Samuel. She was the last survivor of seven siblings, preceded in death by Leo, Celia, Thelma, Gertrude, Ester, and Robert. Born in Pittsfield Massachusetts, July 10, 1914 to Robert Stein, and Bessie Brin, emigres from Russia who met in Pittsfield. He was drafted into the Russian army as a skilled watchmaker. Facing mandatory reenlistment, he left the army, without informing them of his planned departure. Helped by family and the great Yiddish writer, Sholem Aleichem who paid for his steamship ticket, Robert immigrated to America in 1904. With the onset of the depression the family moved to Washington D.C. where Marian secured work as a secretary with the Federal government. It was while working for the Office of Price Administration, that Marian met her future husband, Paul Banner where they both worked. They met in June of 1942. Paul was drafted into the Army in September of 1942, and they were married on March 22, 1943 while Paul was on his first leave. (she had initially turned him down citing their 7 year age difference). She moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to be with him while he attended meteorological school, seeing him only the one hour a night he had off from training, occupying her time with studying art. Marian move back to Washington after Paul's graduation and he was shipped off to Africa for 2 years to forecast the weather. Marian continued working for the government, living with her parents in Washington. Her last job was as administrative assistant to Trumans legislative aide. They attended dances at the White House. She loved to dance and loved to tell of her dancing with the famous economist and diplomat, John Kenneth Galbraith, who at 66 towered over the 411 Marian. Leaving Washington in 1950, they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Paul attended Harvard to get his Ph.D., moving back to Washington in 1954, Paul worked for the CIA, the U.S. Senate and then the Federal Reserve Board. In 1960, Paul answered an ad in the Wall Street Journal for an economist, which necessitated moving to St. Louis, Missouri. While in St. Louis, Marian delved more deeply into her art work. Four years later, following her husband once again, they relocated back to Washington D.C. where Paul had taken a position with Southern Railway. Always a lover of the arts, and with a budding professional violinist son, Marian was instrumental in founding the Friends of the D.C. Youth Orchestra in 1960, becoming its first President. She attended orchestra practice every Saturday. Even though she played no instrument. She was so devoted that when her car was in the shop, she hitched a ride on the back of her son Peters motorcycle, which she feared, so as to not miss a rehearsal. In 2010 she was honored in a Proclamation by the Mayor of Washington DC marking the 50th anniversary of the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program. After stepping down as president of the DCYO, she worked at WAMU as Director of Development, the radio station of American University, where she was introduced to bluegrass and Cajun music. In 1975, she moved with her husband to Chicago, where Paul became the Senior Vice President of the Rock Island Railroad, Always devoted to the arts, Marian took over the chairmanship of a chamber music series, as well as becoming a docent at the Chicago Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of American Art. After the Rock Island, they moved to Boston where Paul worked for Charles River Associates and taught at MIT. After a few years, it was back to Chicago where her husband and some partners started the Iowa Interstate Railroad, Paul serving as its Chairman and CEO from 1984 to 1999. Their children, Carl, Daniel and Peter grew and went their ways, Carl to get his PhD in molecular biology from Harvard, Dan to play with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops and later the San Francisco Symphony, and Peter to become a pioneer in the renewable energy industry. Retiring from the Iowa Interstate in 1999, they moved to live full time in Wellfleet where they had purchased a home in 1976. Marian loved the arts and people. She would walk up to a stranger in a foreign country, with dictionary in hand, and attempt to strike up a conversation, unconcerned of the language difference. She was a lifelong Roosevelt/Kennedy liberal. She participated in civil rights marches in the 1960s and anti-war marches against the Vietnam War in the 1970s. She voted for Adlai Stevenson, twice. She was in to eating healthy, a vegetarian in the1930s, she raised her family primarily on fruits, vegetables, rarely serving red meat. Never a soft drink in the house, she would rather see her children drink beer. She always embraced her sons girlfriends, referred to her childrens live in girlfriends as daughter out-laws. She was easy to talk to, becoming the confident and friend of many people much younger than herself. She led an exemplary life, always thinking of others before herself.