Marsha Lynn Bellavance

May 20, 1948 - February 14, 2023

Marsha Lynn Bellavance passed away at her home in Alameda, California on February 14, 2023. She was born in New Jersey on May 20, 1948, to Francois Xavier Bellavance and Martha Lorraine Barry Bellavance, ten minutes ahead of her twin sister, (Maureen) Lee. As a child, Marsha spent six years in Miami before her family settled in the New Haven, Connecticut area when she was nine.

While in high school at Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, she was president of both the HS debate and ski clubs, participated in the Yale Perspectives series and, at 17, was accepted into MENSA. Marsha attended Southern Connecticut State before graduating with a B.A. degree from the American College of Switzerland in Leysin. Following a brief stint in Boston, she moved to the Sun Valley, Idaho area to pursue her passion for skiing—as both a competitor on the freestyle circuit and as a ski instructor. When a knee injury ended her career, she moved to Salt Lake City and earned a Master’s degree in Political Science and Economics at the University of Utah.

Then Marsha joined the US Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, serving as a Vice Consul in Barbados and on the Law of the Sea Treaty. After Ronald Reagan’s election she decided to study law and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Utah School of Law and joined the Idaho Bar in the mid 1980s.

During this time, she also married architect Harold Johnson at Trail Creek Cabin in Sun Valley and moved back to Ketchum, Idaho. Instead of practicing law, Marsha and her husband opened the Computer Lab and expanded into publishing with the Famous Footstep series of guide books about famous people in their favorite places. For many years she also sponsored a birthday party for writer Ernest Hemingway.

Marsha moved to San Francisco after her divorce and developed her creative side studying poetry with Diane DiPrima, painting with nail polish, making ceramic sculptures, producing photo portraits of North Beach beat scene personalities and advocating for inclusivity. She also worked in marketing with the San Francisco Opera. Then, she spent several years in Connecticut helping her mother before she returned to the Bay area in 2015 and settled in Alameda. Unfortunately, she suffered from poor health during the past few years.

Marsha is survived by her twin sister Lee Bellavance Diamond, her brother-in-law Benjamin Diamond, close friend Jeff M. Giordano, Suzan Kaplan, neighbor Erin Gage and numerous cousins in Canada and Connecticut, including Nancy Roark and the Bush and Malboeuf families. She was predeceased by her best friend Vince Storti and her parents. Marsha also visited five continents, and leaves behind friends and acquaintances around the world. A celebration of her life is planned for June 25th in Alameda.