We at Teamsters Local 174 are heartbroken to announce the passing of our office manager and bookkeeper Marie Harper, who passed away due to complications from cancer this week. She was entirely too young to go.

Many of you knew Marie from our General Membership Meetings, where she would often sit at the table in the lobby to check members in. If you were a regular attendee, she probably knew you by face and by name, and would have you checked in on the computer before you had a chance to get out your Union card.

Marie was wholesomeness personified – a rare feat in Teamster-world where most of us curse, drink, act, and dress like, well, Teamsters. How she made it to her age without becoming cynical, I will never know. Surely she was just made of something different than most of us.

She even loved jokes about her own wholesomeness. “Is that your new motorcycle in the parking lot, Marie?” you could ask, and she would laugh, as if you’d ever catch her on a motorcycle. “Someone managed to break this stapler … probably Marie in another of her rages!” and again, laughter at the very prospect of getting angry enough to say a bad word, never mind break something. Making her laugh was easy and fun, and her laugh was like the tinkle of a wind chime. It will be sorely missed.

Her family was her greatest source of pride. She loved to talk to people about their children, and beamed when she spoke about her sons and how she longed for grandchildren. She was, thankfully, able to achieve that dream before being taken from us. Her grandchildren did not get enough time with her. All of us who knew her can agree on what an amazing grandma she would be. The kind who would send you home with a cookie in each pocket.

We hope you will all keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. We are all worse off for having lost her, but better for having known her. Rest in Peace, Marie.