Marilyn S. Legg

Marilyn Legg (née Senior), long-time resident of Scituate, MA, formerly of Braintree, passed away peacefully at the Pat Roche Hospice Home in Hingham on Saturday, January 20th, 2018, after a lengthy fight against cancer. She was 77. Marilyn is survived by her beloved husband of 55 years, Richard M. Legg; her sons, Barry and Scotty Legg; her daughters-in-law, Tracy Richardson and Alison Legg; her grandchildren, Alexandra, Samantha, Elizabeth, Aliza, and Garrett. She was preceded in death by her parents, Albert O. and Doris M. (Carr) Senior, and by her brother, Barry O. Senior.

Marilyn attended Braintree High School, where she thrived as an honors student and head cheerleader. In her senior year, Marilyn met and fell in love with Dick and was voted (no surprise here!) “Best Personality” by her peers. Marilyn went on to organize every subsequent Braintree H.S. Reunion for the class of 1958. After earning her Associates Degree in Science from Lasell Junior College in 1960, Marilyn worked at State Street Bank in Boston, but early marriage and a young family drew Marilyn home to Scituate, where she and Dick moved in 1963. There, while caring for her children, she started a highly successful purse-making business, balancing the executive and the maternal as only she could. She loved to watch her sons (just as she would her grandchildren in later years) grow and excel in sports and in life; this was the source of her greatest pride. Her adventurous spirit took her places near and far, among them: road trips with “her Leggy” to Charleston, SC; sailing on Penobscot Bay (Camden, ME); trips to Italy, Germany, and the UK.

In 1987, Marilyn came to Thayer Academy (Braintree) where she served for over thirty years as Assistant to the Headmaster, a title that only begins to take the measure of her impact in that community. She worked with four headmasters, evidence of her value and her commitment to the continuity of Thayer’s long-standing traditions. Thousands of students and faculty were inspired by Marilyn’s kindness and wisdom. Organizer-in-Chief of the Cum Laude dinner, Last Chapel, and Commencement, Marilyn attended to every detail, right down to the wrapping of gifts and prizes, and the ordering of floral arrangements befitting occasion and season. Marilyn’s concern for others extended far beyond her circle of family, colleagues, and friends. She started Thayer’s annual Blood Donation campaign and the Holiday Toy Drive, which grew under her inspiring leadership into a program that helped over 14,000 South Shore families, in partnership with local charitable organizations (Head Start; the South Boston Neighborhood House; the Department of Children and Families; the Dianne DeVanna Center).

Marilyn believed that good could be done in ways both big and small. She was never too busy with her charitable work or with her Thayer duties to ask after all who passed by her desk or took a seat on her famous bench. She remembered everyone’s triumphs and challenges as though they were her first priority and would greet all with her brilliant smile: How are your kids? Your mom? How can I help? She offered words of encouragement, much needed laughter, the occasional colorful word, and gentle, candid advice. Everyone left her office feeling better. She was “Mama Legg” to many, and the beating heart of Thayer.

Petite, poised, and impeccably dressed, Marilyn was a superhero in disguise - a force to be reckoned with - her appearance belying the extraordinary strength, feistiness, and good humor that were only amplified when Multiple Myeloma struck. Given only five years to live after her initial diagnosis in January, 2008, Marilyn taught cancer a lesson, outsmarting it for eleven years, and becoming a spokesperson and cover girl for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Fortified by her strong faith, and ever faithful to her school and community responsibilities, she rallied. Her motto was simply “We will.” She and Dick attended cancer conferences each year to advocate for patients and learn about cutting-edge research and treatments. She participated in cure-finding trials and advocacy campaigns, appeared in inspirational videos, and was the guest speaker at the grand opening of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center at South Shore Hospital in September, 2009. She spoke again at its five year anniversary.

Marilyn’s joy came from so many facets of life, including a true love and appreciation for the beauty of this world and its people, and a deep, abiding faith in the next. Ever aware of how blessed she was, she turned gratitude into giving. She filled her years with grace and grit, infused with the tender and selfless mission to nurture the very best in all of us. We’ll miss you, Marilyn.

Visiting hours will be on Thursday, January 25th, from 3 - 8 p.m. at the Richardson-Gaffey Funeral Home, 382 First Parish Road, Scituate, MA. Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 26th, at 11:30 a.m. at First Trinitarian Congregational Church of Scituate, 381 Country Way, Scituate, MA. All are invited to attend the burial service immediately thereafter at Blue Hill Cemetery, 700 West Street, Braintree, MA, and to a subsequent reception at 3:30 p.m. at the Thayer Academy Center for the Arts, 745 Washington Street, Braintree, MA. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Thayer Academy for the creation of the Marilyn Legg P ’88 Fund for Financial Aid, 745 Washington Street, Braintree, MA 02184 or thayer.org/give.