Marion Speelman

Following a four-year battle with cancer, Marion Speelman, a 12-year resident of the coast, died Oct. 18 due to complications from the disease.

Mrs. Speelman, 56, is remembered by her family as a "very warm and loving person" with a wonderful sense of humor and a zest for life.

"I think the essence of my mom was not about money or material things but more about relationships," said her son, Michael Speelman. "She just cared about people. She cared about people and I didn't understand why sometimes, but it's who she was."

Mrs. Speelman moved to the coast in 1977 with her husband, Walter, and their two sons. The family lived in Clipper Ridge north of El Granada. The couple left the area in 1989 to move to Florida, then later settled in Folsom, Calif.

Mrs. Speelman always felt the coast was her "true home," said her son Mark. She adored it and all the friends she had here.

Mrs. Speelman volunteered at Farallone View Elementary School, as well as the Seal Rescue Center in Marin County.

She had a special place in her heart for animals, and would do anything she could to help them, said Mark, remembering how his mother once crawled under a culvert - about a foot-and-a-half-wide space - to rescue a dog that had been hit by a car and was hiding under there.

"I don't know how many times I've come home and there's a stray animal she rescued," he said with a chuckle.

Mrs. Speelman is preceded in death by her father, Fred Grob. She is survived by her mother, Elfride Grob, her two sons, Mark and Michael Speelman, and her six grandchildren.

A memorial celebration was held Sunday in Folsom, Calif.

The family is asking that

donations be made in Mrs. Speelman's name to D.E.L.T.A. (Dedication & Everlasting Love to Animals), P.O. Box 9, Glendale, CA 91209.