MARCY NADEL: 1928-2005. "Even now, my friends came over to see my mother," says the daughter of Marcy Nadel, ex-teacher and avid knitter.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published July 15, 2005
BAYSHORE GARDENS - Last Sunday, while many Floridians were keeping an eye on Hurricane Dennis, a seemingly endless parade of Marcy Nadel's friends stopped by her hospital room to say their final goodbyes.
"You wouldn't believe how many people came to her hospital room," said her daughter, Lola Marion. "It's kind of ironic that there was a hurricane, because she was a force of nature herself."
Mrs. Nadel, who was 77 when she died Sunday (July 10, 2005) of lung cancer, had lived in Tampa for only about 10 years. But because of her warm, vibrant and outgoing personality, she had developed countless close friends.
"She would talk to anyone at the grocery store, and if there was no one to talk to, she'd talk to an eggplant," her daughter said. "She had so many friends. They wouldn't do anything without calling her first and asking for advice."
Mrs. Nadel lived most of her life in New Jersey. She studied music at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (where her classmates included Andy Warhol and Jack Klugman), and when she was a young woman, besides raising a family, she worked as a piano teacher.
"She was the kind of mom that I shared with everybody," her daughter said. "All my friends - she was their mom too. In high school, even now, my friends came over to see my mother."
She was in her early 30s when her first marriage ended in divorce. She returned to college and earned a master's degree in reading education and then began a second career teaching remedial reading in public schools.
"I remember her dissertation was called "From Moo to You,' on her own method of teaching reading, not the traditional way you'd find in a textbook," Marion said.
She also married Eddie Nadel, a man 19 years her senior.
"That concerned me because I knew she would spend her later years alone," her daughter said.
Mr. Nadel died in 1983. Twelve years later, Mrs. Nadel moved to Tampa to be closer to her daughter and grandsons. She planned to help out with her daughter's food delivery business but her technophobia - she refused to use a computer - limited her duties.
"She used to help us at our business, Dine-One-One, but she couldn't figure out the hold button," said her son-in-law, Ken Marion.
Though she didn't work regularly, she continued to indulge passions that had driven her through her entire life: her family, cooking and eating, music, knitting and bridge.
She became a regular at a South Tampa shop called Knit 'n Knibble, where she and friends would spend hours knitting and talking.
"I took up knitting just to spend time with her," her daughter said.
"Her joy was to finish my projects. Anything she could do to help me, she loved to be able to help," Marion said. "Even though she was 77, she was really a 40-year-old," Marion said. "She walked on Bayshore Boulevard every day."
Mrs. Nadel's cancer diagnosis came only last week. She had a biopsy July 1, was admitted to Memorial Hospital on July 5 and died five days later.
Her last days and hours were filled with visits from family and friends.
"She made everyone feel good," said Patrick Kenny, who called Mrs. Nadel one of his best friends. "Marcy was just a lot of fun. Everyone I introduced her to loved her."
Mrs. Nadel is survived by her daughter, her son, Harvey Greenberg of Westford, Mass., and three grandchildren.
