Obituary

Marianne Rogers-Beck Duty, 94, of Chesterfield, Virginia. Marianne was born in Streator, Illinois to H. Edward Beck and Mary-Bett Rogers Beck on February 8, 1930.  She ascended to glory with her heavenly Father on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.  As she said, she was setting off on her last adventure and there was no passport required. This obituary was primarily written by Marianne, and she called it her “resume”.

Marianne graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1947 with honors and was awarded a full academic scholarship to Westhampton College of the University of Richmond.  In 1950, she graduated with honors from Westhampton College, Phi Beta Kappa, with majors in English and French and with a minor in music.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree.  In 1952, she received a degree from Harvard, an AM degree (Ars Majoris) in Comparative Literature including studies in English, French, German, and Latin.

In 1956, she returned to the University of Richmond to attend the T. C. Williams School of Law on a full scholarship.  She was the first woman to receive a scholarship there.  She resigned her scholarship the following September as she had met the love of her life, who was also attending the law school, and they decided that one lawyer in the family was quite enough.  Her late husband, W. Lester Duty, and she were married in November, 1958.  They were married for 51 years.  Little did they know when they were wed that there would actually be another attorney in the family, their daughter, Mary-Leslie Duty.

Marianne later studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, completing all course work that was required for a PhD. She did not complete her dissertation because of a severe illness in her immediate family.

As for her employment history, she was employed in the field of Public Relations for many years.  She began teaching part-time at Westhampton College in 1954 and from 1960 to 1967 she taught English full-time at both Westhampton and the University of Richmond (Richmond College).

In 1967, she began teaching English at John Tyler Community College retiring as an Associate Professor of English in 1994. She held many leadership and advisor positions during her tenure at JTCC.

She and her husband, Les, moved to Hathaway Tower in 2007.  She was elected to the Board of Directors in 2008, serving as Secretary, Vice President and finally three years as President.

She was a faithful member of Bon Air Baptist Church for many years.

The final section of her “resume” is her personal background and life.  She was widowed in November, 2009, when her husband, Les, passed away.  She is survived by her daughter, Mary-Leslie Duty Emmons, and her beloved son-in-law, Michael Lance Emmons.

Until the pandemic, she was a member of the Women’s Club of Bon Air and served on the Board of Directors.  She enjoyed numerous hobbies, calling herself a “voracious” reader and daily journal writer.  She enjoyed needlework, drawing and painting.  However, her true passion was cruising with Les.  She enjoyed 60 cruises in her lifetime, the large majority of them with her husband.  She even flew on the Concorde and saw the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba.  She kept a journal of every adventure she enjoyed.

She ended her “resume” like this: “I know that I am blessed with a wonderful family and especially dear and faithful friends:  Rose Berry, Susan Frazier, Judy Johnson and Deigh Simpson.

God has been good to me and when I die, I know that death is not an ending but a beginning.  I truly believe that love is stronger than death because death is merely the completion of life here on earth.

I treasure the words of John Milton who wrote in Samson Agonistes “And calm of mind, all passion spent”.”

The family would like to thank James River Hospice for their wonderful care of Marianne from November, 2023, through her passing.  The family is also grateful to Commonwealth Senior Living where Marianne resided during the time of her hospice care.

Her Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 17, 2024 with a visitation to occur at 2:00 p.m. at the Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service, 6500 Iron Bridge Road, North Chesterfield, VA 23234, Dr. Robert Stamps officiating.

She will be buried with Les at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.