Marie Farson
Godfrey |
Marie Claire Farson departed peacefully from us on Sunday, March 16, 2025, surrounded by family at home in Godfrey, Illinois. She was born March 17, 1961, in Orange, Texas, the eldest of Carol and Frank Osmon's two children.
She graduated from La Canada High School in 1979, from Pomona College in 1982 with a degree in Physics, and from the University of California Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1989 with a PhD in Oceanography (Ocean Engineering). During her graduate studies, she became the first woman to travel to the sea floor in any of the U.S. Navy's deep submergence vessels, reaching a depth of 6,000 feet in SEA CLIFF (DSV 4) off San Diego, CA. This earned her membership in the Explorers Club of New York City.
Marie worked at Deep Ocean Engineering for the famed oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle on several unmanned submersible projects. These included design, construction, and operation of a small submersible purpose-built to perform a specific inspection inside the reactor vessel of a Japanese nuclear power plant; the unmanned submersible inspection of a dam in India; and the use of an unmanned submersible to surveil the ocean bottom off Alaska ahead of a king crab harvest to optimize trap placement during the very short crab season.
Marie joined Sea Works, Inc. in 1992 as project manager for underwater infrastructure construction of the Magnetic Silencing Facility at US Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, GA. She directed the work of twenty commercial divers for over three years. She was particularly proud when an audit by the prime contractor, with the aim of apportioning losses on their contract to various subcontractors, resulted in the payment of 101% of Sea Work's claims.
During her free time in Kings Bay, Marie began taking flight instruction at the St. Marys GA airport. This led to a private pilot certificate, purchase of a Cessna 172 small airplane, a commercial pilot certificate, then certification as an instrument flight instructor. Marie renewed this certification through continuing education every two years for the rest of her life, most recently in January 2025.
Marie met her future husband, CDR Dan Farson USN, also a private pilot, at the St. Marys airport and they shared several adventures in the C-172. They married on July 2, 1995, in St Marys, GA.
Marie leaned into the nomadic life of an active duty military spouse for the next seventeen years, starting in Old Mystic, CT, then to San Diego, CA, with two children, back to Old Mystic with four children, then to Brussels Belgium with four children, to McLean VA with five children, then to Tripoli Libya, back to Mclean VA, to Abu Dhabi UAE, then again back to Mclean VA where Dan transitioned from active duty to the active retired lifestyle in 2012. As U.S. Embassy Tripoli's Community Liaison Officer, Marie played a significant role in the evacuation of Embassy personnel from Tripoli in February 2011 brought about by unrest in the area due to the Arab Spring protests. During their time in Abu Dhabi UAE, for which the family's presence in the UAE was not sponsored by the U.S. government, Marie home-schooled the children and at one point took them on an overland adventure from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Oman to visit friends at the U.S. Embassy there, and to re-set the family's UAE tourist visas.
Marie began her role as an educator early on, tutoring undergraduate students while preparing her PhD dissertation, teaching college courses in California while working for Deep Ocean, teaching college courses in Georgia while working at Sea Works, and serving several years as a financial counselor to Sailors and Marines for the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. In 2013 she earned Virginia teaching credentials and taught International Baccalaureate courses in Design Technology, Technical Drawing, and Engineering at the George C. Marshall High School in Tysons Corner, VA. She formed a FIRST robotics team there, which won Rookie of the Year and All-Star awards at the 2015 regional competition and competed at the 2015 FIRST World event in St Louis MO. Marie was the Fairfax County Public School system's Engineering Teacher of the Year for 2015.
In 2016, Marie joined the faculty of Principia College, Elsah IL, teaching courses in Earth Science, and Engineering. She served as a faculty advisor to the Principia Solar Car Team, contributing significantly to the team's top-tier standings in American Solar Challenge competitions. She became Chair of the Engineering Department, and put tremendous effort into preparing the engineering program for ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering Training) accreditation. Principia students voted her 2023 Teacher of the Year. She was recommended for the rank of Full Professor.
Following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, Marie drew strength throughout her life from the study and practice of Christian Science. Related to this, Marie, Dan, and their children for decades spent portions of their summers at the Cedars Camps of Lebanon, MO, participating in camp programs, and helping with the operation of the camp, including a two-week Maker Faire STEM course for campers. Marie served as a member of the Camp board for many years.
Marie was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband, Dan, and their five children; Jemlok Farson (Sierra) of St Louis MO, Hanna Farson of Godfrey IL, Paul Farson of Godfrey IL, Catherine Farson of St Louis MO, Annika Farson of Godfrey IL; her sister Margot Louthen of Port Townsend WA, her mother's sister Jan Kitzis of Port Angeles WA, two grandchildren, and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
Donations in Marie's memory are suggested to Cedars Camps, www.cedarscamps.org/giving/
A celebration of life may be planned for some time later in the year.
Online condolences and guestbook may be found at www.eliaskallalandschaaf.com.
Elias, Kallal & Schaaf Funeral Home
