Marian (Dean) Bullock

Cambridge, Massachusetts - It is with loving remembrance that we announce the passing of our mother, Marian Dean Bullock (née Marian Raymond Dean). She passed peacefully in her sleep on April 26 th , a week and a half after her 79th birthday, holding the hands of both of her children.

Never one to rely solely on others’ discernment, Marian wrote her own obituary, which we share here:

Marian Ward Dean Bullock was born in New York City in 1945, the daughter of George Winter Dean and Marian Ward Raymond, and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota on Summit Avenue. She graduated from Summit School, having received a rigorous education from a series of sometimes brutal, sometimes kind female teachers of the classic independent school types.

Having survived a dozen or more years of jumpers, blazers, and Tuesday Assemblies, and many more years of Sundays at St. John the Evangelist Church in cassock, surplice and "beanies", she went on to Smith College where she majored in Religion along with Professor Diana Eck, whom she still considers to be a colleague. Marian was awarded a Teaching Fellowship in Education and earned her master’s degree by teaching kindergarten children in the Smith College Day School. She loved this work and grew to know many of these Smith College Professors' children and their families.

Instead of becoming a parish minister, Marian chose to carry out her ministry by teaching children who lived in poverty, and who had only one shot at a good future-public school education in the low-income areas of Cambridge- places where no one ever heard of Smith College. (Besides, it meant not having to write a sermon every week.)

She spent her entire teaching career in this work and felt well-rewarded by it, even though she never earned much money.

All her life, Marian continually ran into former students who would say, "Hi, Miss Bullock, remember me?" Of course, she did and received extra fine service from them whether they were now opticians, grocers, or bankers.

Marian counts as most beloved her own two children Noah and Elisabeth, and the hundreds of dyslexic students she taught throughout her career. She believed special education teachers to be in the business of saving lives. It is true. Marian also studied foreign languages-French, German and some Hungarian. She sang in choirs from the age of five, most recently at S.t Thomas Church. She loved to make earmarked charitable donations - especially when she could so with other people's money through foundation work.

After this service, Marian would be happy if you would "prenez un petit verre" lift a glass- in her honor.
AMEN

In her later years, Marian became a proud and doting “Grammy” of Henry (b. 2019) and Lena (b. 2022), who visited with her in her final days. A visible smile came to her face when Lena said “Grammy!” for the very first time and when Henry kissed her and told her, “I love you, love you, love you!”. On her birthday a week prior, she also enjoyed the company of both grandchildren and several other family members. Together, they sang, reminisced, and ate dark chocolate mousse cake (her favorite).

Marian leaves behind her son Noah and his husband, Mehran, of New York, New York; her daughter Elisabeth (“Liz”) and her partner, Henderik (“Big Henry”), and grandchildren, Henry and Helena (“Lena”) of Boston, Massachusetts; her sister, Evelyn (“Evy”) of White River Junction, Vermont; her cousin, Katherine (“Katie”) of Belmont, MA; and her former husband and father of her children, Cary, of Acton, Massachusetts. Marian is predeceased by her mother, also named Marian, her father, George, and her brother, William; as well as her beloved pups, Myrtle, Sammy, Muffin, and Roussé.

Marian was laid to rest on May 3 rd , in the Cambridge Cemetery, also on Summit Avenue.

A celebration of her life will be held at 

The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave, Belmont, MA 02478 on Sunday, June 2nd at 4 pm,

with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, Marian welcomes your donations to the Josiah Quincey Elementary School, the first graded public school in Boston, and where she was thrilled to learn that her grandson Henry would be attending kindergarten in the fall https://www.jqes.org

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marian (Dean) Bullock, please visit our floral store.