Obituary for Marcia Joyce Prester
Marcia Joyce Fromkin Prester August 29, 1925 - February 7, 2022
Marcia was born in Milwaukee and grew up in the nearby village of Shorewood, on the shore of Lake Michigan. From an early age she excelled at the piano, and at 19, displaying the independent, adventurous spirit that characterized her throughout life, she left the University of Chicago and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she became the resident piano teacher at the private Ashley Hall School for girls. She moved to New York City after World War II, where she met and married cellist David Soyer. The two concertized on the east coast, performing on New York radio stations and giving numerous recitals at concert halls and universities. The marriage ended in divorce and Marcia was raising her two sons in Teaneck, New Jersey, when Murray Prester came along, an arrival noted by Marcia’s Father, Morris Fromkin, in his diary: “Met Marcia’s boyfriend Murray. I hope she marries him–he’s my kind of guy.” The two married, moved to a new house in Teaneck, and added a third son to the family. They flourished in Teaneck for some thirty years. Marcia and Murray loved to travel, especially to warmer climates. Their mutual love of friends and games was always in evidence through ongoing family and neighborhood gatherings devoted to anagrams, poker, music, and ping pong. They maintained close contact with their parents and siblings, all of whom lived in the greater New York area. Marcia continued to concertize, accompanying New York Philharmonic musicians such as oboist Leonard Arner, flautist Paige Brooke, and harpist Myor Rosen and other New York musicians including cellists George Ricci and Avron Twerdowsky. A lifelong learner, Marcia enrolled at Farleigh Dickinson University in her fifties, and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in 1976 while continuing to provide motherly support for the family, having pre-prepared labeled dinners for Murray and the boys on nights when she had classes. She and Murray collaborated on musical projects, ranging from a Jewish musical service that was performed at the American Conference of Cantors, to a short musical based on the fable Rumpelstiltskin. Marcia taught her sons to play the piano and promoted their musical development throughout life. After Murray’s retirement, the two of them spent more and more time in the Palm Beach area of Florida, purchasing a condominium unit there in the early 1980s and ultimately taking up residence, although they continued to spend summers in New England.. They became active tennis players. Capitalizing on her natural talents to empathize and form warm interpersonal connections, Marcia trained to become a real estate agent and was highly successful in the Palm Beach area, winning recognition for high sales. She joined an area musicians club where she met and performed with new acquaintances. With her youngest son Robert, a jazz and classical pianist, she performed two-piano recitals in Florida, Hawaii, and New England, continuing to perform into her nineties. Her marriage to Murray lasted more than 50 years until his death in 2015. Throughout life Marcia maintained close connections with family and friends while continuing to make new friendships with people of all ages and wide-ranging interests. She is survived by her sons Daniel Soyer (Sheila McIntosh), Jeffrey Soyer, and Robert Prester (Adriana Samargia-Prester) and her granddaughters Elena Soyer and Leah Soyer. To know Marcia was to be uplifted by her quiet strength and be surrounded by light, love, and support. Her intellect, lighthearted wit, talents, love of family, adventurous spirit, warmth, and boundless energy continue to inspire all who knew her.
Marcia was born in Milwaukee and grew up in the nearby village of Shorewood, on the shore of Lake Michigan. From an early age she excelled at the piano, and at 19, displaying the independent, adventurous spirit that characterized her throughout life, she left the University of Chicago and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she became the resident piano teacher at the private Ashley Hall School for girls. She moved to New York City after World War II, where she met and married cellist David Soyer. The two concertized on the east coast, performing on New York radio stations and giving numerous recitals at concert halls and universities. The marriage ended in divorce and Marcia was raising her two sons in Teaneck, New Jersey, when Murray Prester came along, an arrival noted by Marcia’s Father, Morris Fromkin, in his diary: “Met Marcia’s boyfriend Murray. I hope she marries him–he’s my kind of guy.” The two married, moved to a new house in Teaneck, and added a third son to the family. They flourished in Teaneck for some thirty years. Marcia and Murray loved to travel, especially to warmer climates. Their mutual love of friends and games was always in evidence through ongoing family and neighborhood gatherings devoted to anagrams, poker, music, and ping pong. They maintained close contact with their parents and siblings, all of whom lived in the greater New York area. Marcia continued to concertize, accompanying New York Philharmonic musicians such as oboist Leonard Arner, flautist Paige Brooke, and harpist Myor Rosen and other New York musicians including cellists George Ricci and Avron Twerdowsky. A lifelong learner, Marcia enrolled at Farleigh Dickinson University in her fifties, and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in 1976 while continuing to provide motherly support for the family, having pre-prepared labeled dinners for Murray and the boys on nights when she had classes. She and Murray collaborated on musical projects, ranging from a Jewish musical service that was performed at the American Conference of Cantors, to a short musical based on the fable Rumpelstiltskin. Marcia taught her sons to play the piano and promoted their musical development throughout life. After Murray’s retirement, the two of them spent more and more time in the Palm Beach area of Florida, purchasing a condominium unit there in the early 1980s and ultimately taking up residence, although they continued to spend summers in New England.. They became active tennis players. Capitalizing on her natural talents to empathize and form warm interpersonal connections, Marcia trained to become a real estate agent and was highly successful in the Palm Beach area, winning recognition for high sales. She joined an area musicians club where she met and performed with new acquaintances. With her youngest son Robert, a jazz and classical pianist, she performed two-piano recitals in Florida, Hawaii, and New England, continuing to perform into her nineties. Her marriage to Murray lasted more than 50 years until his death in 2015. Throughout life Marcia maintained close connections with family and friends while continuing to make new friendships with people of all ages and wide-ranging interests. She is survived by her sons Daniel Soyer (Sheila McIntosh), Jeffrey Soyer, and Robert Prester (Adriana Samargia-Prester) and her granddaughters Elena Soyer and Leah Soyer. To know Marcia was to be uplifted by her quiet strength and be surrounded by light, love, and support. Her intellect, lighthearted wit, talents, love of family, adventurous spirit, warmth, and boundless energy continue to inspire all who knew her.