Marion Elizabeth Hastings

My parents were both Kentuckians. Mother used to emphasize that she was from Taylor County in the Bluegrass section of the state whereas Dad was from the woodsy, more northern region of Butler County. They met at the State Normal School (now Western Kentucky University) in Bowling Green. Both became teachers.

It seems that a popular notion of the day was “go West, young man, go West!”. At any rate, they married in 1917, got on a train and went to Kansas. Both my brother, four years my senior, and I were born in Fort Scott, Kansas – but not until awhile after the WW I Armistice, (my father incidentally served in a Calvary Unit).

I had a wonderful childhood in Fort Scott, and I remember much of it quite well. I don’t remember the Wall Street stock market crash as I was only three. I do remember some of the effects of it. One of those effects was that my family would pack up and leave home for the school year. (My kindergarten and first grade schooling were in Des Moines, Iowa.) But we would always come back to Kansas for the summer to the big farm-type house on the wide brick street on the edge of town. We had a cow and chickens. The people next door had a couple of nice horses and up the street, in the back acre, a family had a barn and pig pen. Everyone had vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Down the street in a fine house lived the owner of the town newspaper, The Fort Scott Tribune. Then came the “Water Works”, which gave our neighborhood the name Tower Hill. Next to that was Mercy Hospital. Gunn Park and the Lake were close by.

My Dad finished his B.S. degree in Education at the State Teachers College in Pittsburg, KS by going to summer school for two or three summers in the 1930’s. When the Great Depression hit this country, however, his degree didn’t help him land a teaching contract that paid enough for the family to live on. That was when he became a civil servant and came to Washington, D.C. at a salary of $1,440 a year. For two years he lived in rooming houses and sent most of his paycheck back to the family to pay the mortgage and keep us fed.

Then in late 1937, the government-built town of Greenbelt, Maryland “came online”. Out of over 50,000 applications for the 880 housing units, my Dad, being in Washington and aware of the opportunity, was successful in being chosen as a part of this big experiment. We moved from Kansas to Greenbelt to become the original occupants of our newly finished house, at the end of the school year in 1938. I was 11, soon to be 12 years old.

Thus, there was a distinct line of demarcation between my childhood and my growing-up years. Greenbelt was a great place to grow up. There was a real sense of community (we were all “pioneers”), plenty of friends and activities to choose from, wonderful recreation facilities (lake, swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis courts, ball fields) with supervised programs and instructors. With few exceptions we all went to Greenbelt schools. The whole town, with its schools, was quite far removed, almost isolated from other communities in those days. There was a “Green Belt” of forests surrounding the town, there were few roads, and many families in this low-cost housing experiment did not have cars.

Capital Transit ran to the District Line, and there, streetcars were boarded for the rest of the trip to “downtown” Washington, D.C. Later, the bus service only went to the streetcar line in Berwyn. Boarding there you could get off at College Park, University Park, Riverdale, Hyattsville, Colmar Manor, etc., or stay on to the District Line where you had to change streetcars. This was my transportation to get to Maryland University for four years. It was also a very long walk to get from the “carline” to the top of campus. The alternative to public transportation was the renowned Carpool.

Before entering the University, I worked for a year as a “government-girl”. My job was downtown at an agency called the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or “RFC”. This was wartime (1943 – 1944) and Washington was “importing” all kinds of people to do the job of running the country AND the war. With my typing and shorthand skills I could have gone to work at any government department or agency. My best friend and I chose one with a nice new building and where we could get a ride to work with her father. I’ve forgotten whether I paid him for my ride or not. I bought my lunches, any new clothes and saved the rest for college – thanks to my parents who charged me no room and board. It was a little hard to quit that job because I made some nice friends, but I was resolved. My girlfriend continued working.

In 1948 I graduated from Maryland University with a B.S. degree in Education. Not until two years later, after a year of teaching Health and Physical Education at the Greenbelt High School and my first year of office work for New York State Commerce Office in Washington, D.C., did I meet my husband. I had wanted to work in Washington in order to meet more people, i.e., men, but where did I actually meet Sam? In Greenbelt of course, between the tennis courts and the swimming pool having been introduced by a mutual friend. I met Sam after his three years of service in the Navy during World War II. Sam was 26 and I was 25 when we married in June 1951. We soon started buying a building lot in Montgomery County off of Layhill Road. We built our house and moved in during 1956.

Recountings from Brooke Grove interviews…

Samuel M. Hastings was an Aeronautical Engineer at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (later NSWC), White Oak, MD. He and Marion had two children, Tim and Hilary. They enjoyed creating some lovely gardens around their home. In later years Marion liked to tell her friends “I have stories about each and every tree planted in front of the wood line because we planted all of them. The front half of our one-acre lot had been a cornfield on the Baughman farm. Some came home in a Dixie cup. I picked out the cherry tree as a Mother’s Day gift and planted it myself.”

Sam and Marion chose a church that was close to their home. August 12, 2021, Marion wrote this remembrance about it:

“When my husband, Sam, and I built our home nearby and joined Oak Chapel United Methodist Church in the early 1960’s, the little church was already 72 years-old. We were impressed that it had started in the previous century, and we didn’t want it to go away. We grew to love it and, over the years, helped it to grow. Now, I, myself, have been a member for almost 60 years, and I am happy that Oak Chapel, with the help of many, many devoted Christians is still in existence and celebrating its 135th Birthday”.

“Besides raising our two children at Oak Chapel, I have many Special Memories of making friends and engaging in many diverse activities; leading Sunday School, teaching classes, tending the nursery; helping at annual Church Suppers (which were open to the public); serving on the Altar Committee to supply fresh flowers weekly (sometimes from my own garden); decorating the Chapel for Christmas; scheduling the building for community activities such as Flower Shows, Exercise classes, Bible School, Civic Assoc. Meetings etc.; planning for expansion of the church; building and furnishing the “new” building (2000); beautifying the Cemetery Garden; and last but not least of saying hello’s and goodbye’s to ever-changing lists of members and friends.”

Marion belonged to the Gaywood Garden Club, enjoyed growing her own flowers, and for many years spent time playing along with other members of the women’s golf group at Argyle Country Club. Marion was also a member of the Mortar Board Honor Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, Greenbelt Museum serving as a docent, University of Maryland Alumnae, WOLEA, Sandy Spring Museum and the Argyle Women’s Golf Association. She volunteered for 20+ years at the Montgomery General Hospital’s Gift Shop and for the last several years was a regular blood donor. Marion was also active in Gamma Phi Beta sorority and received 50-year recognitions from them and the Gaywood Garden Club.

After putting the kids through orthodonture and college, she and Sam were able to do quite a lot of traveling (some of which, in the beginning, was related to Sam’s career). They toured and travelled to 23 countries as well as across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Marion loved all her travel experiences. Sam and Marion were ecstatic in 1992 when their granddaughter Samantha was born. They enjoyed the role of doting grandparents all the while enjoying each other and involvement in their varied activities.

After fifty years in their home, Sam and Marion moved to an independent living cottage at Brooke Grove Retirement Community in Sandy Spring, Maryland. Sam died a year later in 2006. As a Brooke Grove resident for 17 years Marion made many new friends and stayed active. She participated in many of the bus trip activities that were offered. She served two terms on the Resident’s Association Board, on several committees and was a member of the “Brooketts” dance group.

As a life-long learner Marion continued to participate in activities such as the Great Courses Lectures which were still available in her community during the Covid-19 shutdowns thanks to technology.

She also enjoyed reading, looking through her many photo albums, and tending to her house plants and was very happy when she, her daughter and son could again go out to lunch together.

The family and Marion’s many friends will miss her greatly.

Marion is survived by her son, Timothy Wayne Hastings and his wife Beth of Dagsboro, Delaware; her daughter Hilary Ann Barley and her husband Eric of York, PA as well as her granddaughter Samantha Templin and her husband Robert of Battlefield, Missouri. She is also survived by her niece, Barbara Taylor of Marshallberg, North Carolina, two grand nephews and six great grand nephews.

In lieu of flowers donations may be directed to either:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

6 Herdon Avenue

Annapolis, MD 21403

Oak Chapel United Ministries Food Hub

14500 Layhill Rd

Silver Spring, MD 20906

Marion Benson Hastings

Marion E. Hastings, after living a long and full life died at the age of 95 on June 30, 2022. Marion was preceded in death by her husband Samuel (2006) and brother Richard Benson. She is survived by her son Timothy W. Hastings and his wife Beth of Dagsboro, DE and her daughter Hilary Ann Barley and her husband Eric of York, PA as well as her granddaughter Samantha Templin and her husband Robert of Battlefield, Missouri. She is also survived by her niece, Barbara Taylor of Marshallberg, North Carolina, two grand nephews and six great grand nephews. A visitation will be held at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, from 3pm to 5pm on July 17. A funeral service will be held on July 18 at 10 a.m. at Oak Chapel United Methodist Church with a burial to follow immediately after at Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may be directed to either the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or to the Oak Chapel United Ministries Food Hub.

Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 14, 2022.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hinesrinaldifuneralhome.com for the Hastings family.