Marcia Holmes Musto died on Oct. 15 at The McLellan in Brunswick. She was 86 years old.
Marcia was born on April 10, 1937, in Newark, a small town in upstate New York that is between Rochester and Syracuse. Her parents were Richard L. Holmes and Maureen Ball Holmes.
She was a portrait and landscape artist, classical pianist, loving mother, and lifelong friend to many. She was known for her friendliness, her big smile, and the joy she expressed whenever she saw something beautiful. It could be a bird, a tree, a cloud, a sunset, or a pair of Cole Haan shoes.
Marcia was a proud graduate of Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied early childhood education. Upon graduation she accepted a teaching position in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was there she met her first husband, Douglas von Donop, and her dear friends Bob and Jan Waldron. Marcia and Doug moved back to New York and eventually to the coast of New Jersey.
She continued teaching until the late 1970s and then switched to a career in sales. Initially she sold JAFRA cosmetics in suburban New Jersey, then she sold wholesale goods in New York City, and ultimately she was responsible for sales of imported food with her second husband, Anthony Musto.
Marcia moved to Brunswick in 2017 after living in Florida for 20 years. Everyone joked she was going in the wrong direction. She adapted to the winters and wore cashmere all year round. She enjoyed spending time in Harpswell and visiting the Gosling Islands.
She is predeceased by her brother, Sheldon Holmes, of California; her sister, Nancy Holmes Palmer, of Florida; and her husband, Anthony Musto, of New York.
She is survived by Deborah and Eric Tautel, of Connecticut; Kristin von Donop and Gail Gross, of Maine; and Carl and Tracy von Donop, of Minnesota; as well as six grandsons: Anthony, Tyler, Jason, Cory, Logan, and Mason.
The memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Nov. 18 at First Parish Church in Brunswick.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to either the Maine Coast Heritage Trust or the Arbor Day Foundation, to preserve the land that gave her joy.
