Marcia F. Hillenbrand     

AMHERST, MA: Our beloved mother passed peacefully, surrounded by family, on November 17, 2023

She was born Marcia Fay Hodgkins on September 19, 1937 in Bellows Falls, Vermont. She was the middle(ish) child of Myrtle and Walter Hodgkins. They came to Massachusetts when she was 3 and settled in Pelham.  She graduated from the Amherst school system in 1955.  She lived most of her life in Amherst, then Belchertown, then back to Amherst at Greenleaves, where she made many friends.  

Marcia was predeceased by the love of her life, Donald E. Hillenbrand, her sister, Phyllis Aldrich, brother, Donald Hodgkins and Walter Hodgkins, Jr., her lifelong best friend, Gracie Kelley, and many other dear friends and relatives.   

Marcia spent most of her working life feeding children in the Amherst Public Schools, eventually retiring  from the Wildwood School Kitchen as Manager. Before her daughters were born, she worked at the Lord Jeff (Boltwood Inn) as a maid and secretary.   

She loved the Boston Red Sox and UMass Men’s Basketball and would talk to you about it as much as possible. She had opinions about both. Marcia and Don loved southern Maine, and would travel there on many, many weekends with Gracie and Bill Kelley, where they watched the sun rise over the ocean, played cards, and ate lobster. Goose Rocks Beach was her happy place.  Every July, both Marcia and Gracie, along with their families,  spent a few weeks at the beach and called themselves “summer natives.”  

Marcia leaves behind three daughters, Donna Beauregard (Richie), Lori Donnini, and Linda Hillenbrand (Brian Blinn). Five grandchildren and their partners, Jeffrey Beauregard (Jill), Heidi Beauregard Lavin (Drew), Anthony (A.J.) Donnini (Michelle), Janelle Donnini (Rob), and Joseph Mew (Kim).  Six beautiful great-grandchildren, Claire Beauregard, Anna Beauregard, Evelyn Lavin, Westley Lavin, Henry Mew and Olivia Donnini.  She also leaves her brother Paul Hodgkins (Angie), sister Kathy Guercio (Joseph), and many special nieces and nephews.

Her family wants to thank the wonderful staff of Pioneer Valley Rehabilitation and Hospice for caring for her in her last days.     

Calling hours will be on 11/29/23 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. followed by a ceremony at 11:30 at Douglass Funeral Home, 87 N. Pleasant St. Amherst, Ma.

A graveside service will follow the ceremony at the Pelham Hill Cemetary on North Valley Road.