Marquette University mourns the loss of Marion Fraleigh, a longtime Educational Opportunity Program administrator and grant writer, who died on Friday, Jan. 26. She was 80.
Marion coordinated grants management and administrative support functions for EOP from 1980 until her retirement in June 2010.
Marion earned her bachelor’s degree in human ecology from Cornell University and master’s degree in human resources from Marquette. Her critical thinking and passion for social justice inspired all who knew her. A colleague in Marquette’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs recalls Marion as “one of the kindest and hardest working individuals that I have been blessed to work with.”
As TRIO programs grew, Marion crafted numerous grant proposals, earning tens of millions of federal and private foundation dollars to support students in EOP’s Student Support Services, McNair Scholars, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math Science and other programs. Marion served as EOP’s liaison with other university departments and spearheaded a training initiative for TRIO educators nationwide. Her EOP staff thought of Marion as the glue that held all of them together with love, concern for details and devotion to EOP’s mission to support first-generation and low-income students from precollege through graduate education.
A full obituary is available online. A service was held on Saturday, Feb. 3, in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
Please remember Marion, her family and friends in prayer.
