Head Start teacher was organic gardener

9/20/2005

PORT CLINTON - Anna Marie MacPhedran, 56, a teacher in a Head Start program for Wood, Seneca, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties for more than 20 years, died Friday in the Cleveland Clinic from complications of acute leukemia.

Mrs. MacPhedran, who spent most of her career teaching preschool students, died suddenly, Sally MacPhedran, her daughter, said.

"She was a playful person, and she especially enjoyed teaching in the Head Start program because she got to spend a lot of time with children," Ms. MacPhedran said.

Born Anna Marie Czerwinski, Mrs. MacPhedran graduated from Port Clinton High School in 1967. She then received her diploma in early childhood development from the then Terra Technical College.

She married John Duncan MacPhedran on Aug. 29, 1981, and the couple settled in Port Clinton, where they raised four girls and a boy.

"A major trait of her personality was her compassion for the people around her," her daughter Sara Feuhrer, said.

She added that her mother was an avid organic gardener. "She went through phases of growing all kinds of herbs," Ms. Feuhrer said.

Mrs. MacPhedran was well-read on a variety of subjects, her daughters said.

She was a longtime member of Trinity United Methodist Church.

Surviving are her husband, John MacPhedran; daughters, Sara Feuhrer, Kate Cochran, Corinna Paulsen, and Sally MacPhedran; son, Jacob Feuhrer; mother, Genevieve Czerwinski; brothers, Richard Czerwinski and John Czerwinski, and six grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Gerner-Wolf-Walker Funeral Home. A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Thursday in Trinity United Methodist Church, Port Clinton.