Marion P. Decker, volunteer, centenarian

Marion P. Decker, a former businesswoman and volunteer, died July 16 from heart failure at Roland Park Place. The former Northwest Baltimore resident was 104

Marion Gene Popper was born in Winnetka, Ill., the daughter of Charles Popper, a women’s apparel buyer, and his wife, Amy Friedlander Popper, a homemaker.

Due to the nature of her father’s work, she was raised in several cities including Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Beckley, W.Va. She returned to Winnetka and graduated from New Trier Township High School.

She attended the University of Chicago for a year, but left to help support her family during the Depression.

In 1936, she married Ted Decker, a men’s clothing manufacturing executive. In 1954, the couple moved to the Fallstaff neighborhood of Northwest Baltimore; they later lived at the Arlington Park Apartments and Heather Ridge Apartments. Mrs. Decker was known as “Sis.” She was “passionate about human rights, racial equality and freedom,” said a daughter, Wendy Ginsburg of Brooklandville.

She had served as a member of the advisory board of House of Ruth and had been president of the Women’s Sinai Auxiliary, supporting patients and families as well as operating the hospital gift shop. She was also a member of a foster care review board and was named Volunteer of the Year by United Way of Central Maryland.

Interested in the arts, she was a charter member in the 1950s of the Art Seminar, an organization devoted to the study and appreciation of the arts.

In the early 1960s, Mrs. Decker and two friends established Matinee, a business that arranged travel to museums, Broadway shows, lectures and other notable exhibits. They closed the group in 1970.

Mrs. Decker enjoyed playing mixed tennis doubles and Scrabble, going to the beach and attending her grandchildren’s sporting events. She also was an avid reader and was a member of a book discussion group.

She moved to Roland Park Place in 2006. She was a former member of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.

Her daughter said her mother followed no particular regimen in gaining centenarian status.

“She led a healthy life and had a lot of luck,” Mrs. Ginsburg said. “Everything was in moderation and she was not an extremist or a nut. She ate well and kept her body in good shape.” Her husband died in 1988. A celebration of life service for Mrs. Decker will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 10 at the White Oak Ball Room at the Radisson Hotel, 5100 Falls Road in Cross Keys.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by two other daughters, Susan Decker Schwarz of Tarrytown, N.Y., and Ann Decker of Patzcuaro, Mexico; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.