In Memoriam

With unbearably heavy hearts we announce the peaceful passing of Marcia Field (nee Arnopol), 59, of Madison, WI. Marcia passed away on August 13, 2022 from complications of lung cancer. She was the beloved wife of Aaron, with whom she shared 40 wonderful years, and the adoring mother of Max. She is also survived by her sisters Sheryl (Steve) Jamerson and Michelle (Greg) Cecil, brother Michael (Renee) Arnopol, nieces Sarah Jamerson and Alex (Pat) Brennan, nephews Steve (Dana Hagan) Jamerson, Jr. and Richard Arnopol, grandnephews Connor Kravinsky and Louie Jamerson, and grandniece Ophelia Jamerson. She will also be missed by the loving family she married into and by many dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents Richard and Marilyn Arnopol.

Marcia was born in Chicago, IL and grew up in the Jefferson Park neighborhood as well as the suburb of Northbrook. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and began her life with Aaron. They had 14 happy years in Chicago, where Marcia earned her Secondary Education Certificate from Northeastern Illinois University, worked in drug and alcohol prevention for high-risk, inner-city youth at Gateway Foundation, and freelanced as a set stylist for film and video production. She traveled to Czechoslovakia with Volunteers for Peace, studied art history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and interned with the Conservation Division at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Marcia and Aaron eventually settled in Madison, where they raised their beautiful son, Max.

Despite a nearly fatal diagnosis of recurrent Hodgkin’s disease in her twenties and the myriad health complications that followed over the years, Marcia refused to let them define her. She faced every challenge with unimaginable bravery, grace and humor. Her indomitable spirit was that of an intellectually curious world traveler, avid reader, and artist who proudly defied convention. Fascinated by Wunderkammer (“Cabinets of Curiosities”) and the early 20th-century Surrealists, Marcia recently fulfilled her lifelong dream to open her own art studio, gallery and bohemian parlor featuring her uniquely surreal taxidermy art, bone jewelry and assorted oddities.

A memorial celebration of Marcia’s life will take place at her gallery, Exquisite Corpse Surreal Taxidermy in Madison (ExquisiteCorpseTaxidermy.com). In lieu of flowers, her family is asking that donations be made to the Agrace Foundation (Madison, WI), whose hospice services provided great comfort to Marcia in her final days, or another charitable organization of your choosing.