Va. Beach puppeteer helped prevent child sexual abuse
VIRGINIA BEACH — Regina Marscheider, a puppeteer who used her talent to empower children to speak up and protect themselves from sexual abuse, died Feb. 26.
Marscheider, 76, had a stroke followed by emergency surgery from which she didn’t recover, said her daughter Maria Thomas. Her family plans to carry on her legacy.
“She was working up until her last day,” Thomas said. “We all believe in what she did and realize the importance of keeping it going.”
For more than 30 years, Marscheider ran Stop Abuse — Powered By Spectrum Puppets, a Virginia Beach nonprofit organization that aimed to prevent child sexual abuse. She created an Emmy Award-winning puppet program, “Simon Says Just Tell,” to help children learn to recognize, prevent and disclose abuse.
Simon, the main character, teaches children to speak up if they are being touched or approached in a way that makes them uncomfortable. She performed the show in elementary schools throughout Hampton Roads. Children came forward to report a problem afterward, and hundreds
of arrests were made as a result of her work, according to reports. She wrote a book, “Simon Says Play it Safe,” and was working on a second one about cybersafety.
Marscheider was married to her husband, Ed, for 55 years. She had four children and eight grandchildren. For 30 years, Marscheider toured the country, entertaining audiences with puppetry shows separate from her nonprofit work. But as a survivor of child sexual abuse, Marscheider was also committed to using her artistry as an education tool.
“She just worked so hard to keep as many children as possible safe,” said her granddaughter, Alana Thomas, 21. “All she would want is for us to continue her work. I’m going to make sure that happens.”
Her mother will run the Stop Abuse organization and Thomas will help with the puppet performances.
Friend Jeanne Evans-Cox said Marscheider hid under a black drape when she performed and made her characters come alive. The life-sized marionettes — puppets attached to strings — would talk, walk, dance and blink their eyes, mesmerizing audiences.
“She took this unbelievable talent and turned it into something so worthwhile,” Evans-Cox said.
In an interview with Inside Business newspaper in 2015, Marscheider described the challenges of broaching the subject of sexual abuse. “It is very hard for people to talk about, and people don’t want to acknowledge it,” she said. “But it happens in every culture and social background. We work to prevent abuse by teaching children that their bodies are their own.”
Kathy Jeffries knew Marscheider through the Stop Abuse program.
“She will be remembered as a person who truly cared,” Jeffries said. “She opened her arms to everyone as she offered huge hugs and a listening heart.”