Marian Cora Davidson Deemer

Marian Cora Davidson Deemer, age 92, died of natural causes on May 31st, 2018, in Pasadena, California.
She is preceded in death by Rev. James Robert Deemer, her husband of thirty-five years.
Marian was born on July 18th, 1925, in Youngstown, Ohio, to parents John Alderson Davidson and Marguerite Mariner Davidson.
Marian was raised in Youngstown. She had two sisters, Vesta and Lois, and one brother, John. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Muskingum College in 1947, and Master’s degree in Nursing from Case-Western Reserve in Cleveland in 1949. After graduation, she worked a year as a visiting nurse in Cleveland and Youngstown.
Marian went to the Sudan as a short –term teacher in 1950, teaching first in Atbara. Later, she taught in a girl’s boarding school in Khartoum North, where she also worked in a clinic which served women and small children as well as students.
Marian met James Deemer, a short-term teacher at a boy’s school. They were married in the Sudan in 1951. They returned to the United States where Jim completed his theological training at Pitt-Zenia Seminary.
They went to the Sudan as career missionaries, first studying Arabic in Omdurman, then living in Khartoum for two years. They had a son, James Davidson in 1953. Their second son, Andrew Roy, was born in Egypt in 1956. Susan Elizabeth was born in Princeton New Jersey in 1960.
They were next assigned to El Obeid, where Marian home schooled the children. They had a rewarding ministry, including outreach to a group of leprosy patients. Due to the serious illness for their son Jim, they had to resign. They settled in Long Beach, California.
Jim became the pastor of the First United Presbyterian Church (1965-1975) in Long Beach, and later served in an inner-city ministry. Marian worked at Community Hospital in Long Beach, then as a school nurse at ABC Unified School District (1967-1989).
Marian retired and moved to Monte Vista Grove in Pasadena in 1995. She enjoyed caring for her five grand-children: Ashley Megan, Jamal Khalid James, Stephen James, Matthew Robert, and Alexander Bryan. She had one great grand-child, Kaleo Curren.
She also enjoyed traveling, visiting destinations as varied as Scotland, Egypt, Jordan, China, and Ethiopia.
She was an active and enthusiastic volunteer, both at Monte Vista Grove and the after-school tutoring program in a nearby primary school.
She regularly attended Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena.
Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401