Marian Meyerson, the loving wife of Leonard Meyerson, died peacefully at age 92 in the residence she shared with her husband at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Marian was the beloved wife of Leonard Meyerson for 70 years, the mother of Joel, Anne and Michael, and a grandmother to Sonya, Saul, William, Andrew, Sam, Quinn, Dian Dian, and Libby.  She leaves also her beloved brother, Arthur Guild, her loving in-laws, and many extended family members and friends.

A child of the city with an appetite for both culture and nature, Marian loved beauty, art, music, theater, New York City, her summer home in Stockbridge, Mass., and her educator’s work with children and seniors. She collected works of art and craft, appreciated the talents of others, had an eye for fashion, contributed to worthy causes, talked easily to newcomers, showed appreciation for a job well done, and made friends everywhere.   

She had a sympathetic understanding of others, a gentle touch, and a willingness to share the wisdom of her own experience. As her husband Leonard says, “People loved her.”

After graduating from the New York City schools, Marian put herself through college while working and raising a family, and graduated from Hunter College. Earning her teaching credentials in early childhood education, she taught in the Yonkers public school system, rising to the position of principal at the time of her retirement.  

While teaching, Marian was a founding member of a women’s group that met regularly for decades. She helped to start a poetry group that met to discuss the classics.

In retirement Marian devoted the next 20 years to her role as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, studying the museum’s treasures and sharing her knowledge widely. She led group tours in the Met, introducing visitors to the museum’s illustrious works and bringing illustrated lectures about great works of art and the artists who created them to the residents of senior homes.

Throughout their life together, Marian and Leonard were active participants in the artistic and cultural life of the world’s greatest city, attending concerts by the New York Philharmonic, opera and theater at Lincoln Center and many other venues. They were supporters of progressive political causes and the Civil Rights movement, taking part in an early civil rights demonstration in Peekskill, N.Y., after political antagonists tried to prevent African-American activist and singer Paul Robeson from speaking.  

They also contributed generously to social justice, arts, and city park organizations.

They traveled widely, to Europe, the American West, the Canadian Rockies, and the Caribbean. They were enjoying a lengthy tour of China when the Tiananmen Square protests began in 1989. They visited their grandson Saul during a semester abroad in London. And in their eighties they paid a last visit to Paris, in the caring company of their granddaughter Sonya.     

For many years Marian and Leonard hosted a large Seder for their extended families at their home in Riverdale. They also hosted visitors at their summer home in Stockbridge, introducing their circle of city friends to the Berkshires region.

Lifelong lovers of classical music, Marian and Leonard were at one time Friends of Tanglewood, the outdoor venue for Boston Symphony Orchestra. Their connection to Tanglewood dated to their early years together, at one point raising local eyebrows when Marian attended a symphony performance in shorts – a story she told on herself.

She was a founding member of the Mishkan Ha’am Congregation in Hastings.

The funeral service for Marian takes place on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. Those who wish to make charitable donations in her memory are asked to contribute to an organization of their choice.