Marsha M. Clere, 1950-2013; Teacher brought fun to students

6/15/2013
BLADE STAFF

Marsha M. Clere, who found the fun in teaching and conveyed the fun of learning to her second-grade charges, died Thursday in Bay Park Community Hospital. She was 63.

She had Cushing syndrome since 1998, her husband, Steven, said. She retired in 2011 after four decades at Starr Elementary School in Oregon.

“We had a great time,” said Elaine Klewer, a teaching colleague. “They were just beginning to read and do things, and they were so excited to go to school. If you can only imagine what it is to hear a kid say, ‘I can read.’ That’s the fun.”

The pair devised art projects and led students on field trips. Mrs. Clere invited in guests — someone from Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, through which she arranged a schoolwide recycling program, and an expert in building a bridge — the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway.

Patricia Price, a fourth-grade teacher at Starr, said Mrs. Clere’s former students “had sweet memories of lots of different things they did.”

Mrs. Clere was a building representative for the Oregon City Federation of Teachers and received its President’s Award. After a rigorous program of study, she received certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and encouraged colleagues to pursue the credential.

She and her husband were among the first members of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society, of which her sister, Sandy Bihn, is president. The couple solicited donations of goods and services for the silent auction at its annual festival. She also was a member of Lake Erie Waterkeeper and helped raise monarch butterflies at Maumee Bay State Park.

She was born May 23, 1950, to Geraldine and Earl Martin and grew up in Millbury. She was a 1968 graduate of Cardinal Stritch High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and a master’s from the University of Toledo. She was a member of St. Ignatius Church in Oregon.

Surviving are her husband, Steven Clere, whom she married Feb. 5, 1972; son, Michael; mother, Geraldine Martin-Conley; sister, Sandy Bihn, and a granddaughter.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Martin, Ohio, where visitation is to start at 9 a.m. Arrangements are by the Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon.

The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society in Oregon.

Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.