Marsha Clark Moore
Editorial assistant for The Capital had a profound impact on the newspaper and took care of her community in Annapolis
Though Marsha Clark Moore spent most of her time at home, her reputation permeated the city of Annapolis.
Mrs. Moore was known by many of her 1,100 Facebook friends, neighborhood kids and colleagues at The Capital, where she worked as an editorial assistant from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, as a friendly jokester with a strong sense of morality and an old-school lifestyle.
She died Aug. 3 at age 61 of complications following a colonoscopy, her husband, Ronnie Moore, said.
While Mrs. Moore’s role at The Capital was mainly fielding calls and providing administrative support to then-managing editor Tom Marquardt, she had a profound impact on the newspaper, colleagues said.
“She always had my back,” said Mr. Marquardt, who later became editor and publisher of the paper until his retirement in 2012. “She understood the community. She would give me honest opinions, give me background on things we were doing in the newsroom that may be culturally wrong.”
Said Deborah Funk, a friend and colleague: “She could bring perspective into the newsroom that maybe wasn’t there before. She was one of the very few Black people in that newsroom.”
While Mrs. Moore spent much of her time as an assistant, she occasionally wrote stories and columns about littleknown Black inventors, the importance of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and how parents must teach their children to respect their elders.
“In recent months I have, with much chagrin, realized how little I know about the history of African Americans and their contributions to this country,” Moore wrote in 1997 during Black History Month. “There is so much history that is not taught in schools to this day.”
Friends and family say she loved to learn about Black history and culture, especially stories that weren’t well known. Sometimes she would read two books a day, her husband said. She also had an affinity for films of the genre known as Nollywood, or Nigerian Hollywood.
“She really promoted positive Black stories,” Mrs. Funk said.
In her Annapolis neighborhood, she was known by kids as “Aunt Marsha.” Friends recall seeing children in and around her home often, even though she never had kids of her own. Many remember her hosting the occasional tea party for the little ones, as well.
“She always had somebody’s child,” her sister, Roberta “Mimi” Clark, said. “Whenever parents needed a child to be somewhere for a while, they’d be with Marsha.”
One child who spent a lot of time with Mrs. Moore was her goddaughter, Amanda Johnson, now 34. Mrs. Moore’s former boyfriend lived next to Mrs. Johnson’s mother and the two become close friends.
“She used to do my hair when I was a baby,” Mrs. Johnson said. “We spent a lot of nights washing hair in the sink and braiding and all that fun stuff.”
She maintained yearslong email and phone correspondences with many friends both in person and, later in life, on Facebook where she was active. The kindness of others was something she never took for granted, friends said. When she had a heart attack several years ago, she personally found an emergency worker who was involved in her aid and thanked them. She also planned a surprise bridal shower for Mrs. Funk.
“She was such a nurturing spirit,” Mrs. Johnson said.
Mrs. Moore was born in Annapolis, the fourth child of H. Melvin Clark and Shirley Clark. She graduated from Annapolis High School.
While most of her siblings joined the military, she did clerical and child care work for her first few years after high school before starting at The Capital. After that, she worked at USA Today and then the Maryland State House.
She and her husband met in the late 1990s and were married for more than 20 years.
“We just basically took care of each other throughout our years,” Mr. Moore said.
Soon after they met, the two formed a nonprofit, Choosing Hope Ministries Christian Legal Aid and Clinical Counseling, for people in need.
While she didn’t like to travel by air, highway or generally be a part of a lot of human activity at once, some were still surprised to discover she explicitly did not want a funeral service. Her rationale was simply that, “She never liked crowds,” her sister said.
“She led a clean life. It’s like she had no vices that I could determine, I mean honestly. I don’t think she smoked. I don’t think she drank. I didn’t hear her swear and she was very religious,” Mr. Marquardt said. “She led a good life and she inspired us all to do the same.”