Marian Lacey

Veteran educator in Little Rock dies at 76

There's no yardstick or digital device that can measure the impact Marian Lacey had on students in Arkansas.

"We're talking about a woman who had an exceptionally open and caring demeanor that impacted literally thousands of students in the Little Rock School District," said Cathy Koehler, president of the Little Rock Education Association. "If every educator, not just in this state but this nation, had the high standards and at the same time her open, nurturing nature, schools would be successful from one end of this country to the other because students responded to her."

Lacey, 76, died Monday after a battle with breast cancer.

She had been an English teacher, principal and assistant superintendent in Little Rock schools for 32 years before her retirement in 2005.

Upon her retirement, the school district instituted the Marian G. Lacey Educator of the Year Award.

Education was her mission, said her husband, J.J. Lacey, who is also retired from working with the school district.

"She was compassionate, demanding and soft-spoken, which is a unique but positive concoction," he said.

Baker Kurrus, former Little Rock School Board president and superintendent, said Marian Lacey had "unshakable integrity."

"She was a great administrator," he said. "And she was tremendously compassionate. She possessed wonderful judgment -- very astute. We can only hope and pray that there are more people like her who will have careers in education to benefit our kids in the future."

Marian Glover Lacey was born June 29, 1940, in Dermott, the daughter of Silas and Lucinda Glover.

[EMAIL UPDATES: Get free breaking news alerts, daily newsletters with top headlines delivered to your inbox]

Coming from a family that valued education, Marian Glover started school early and graduated from Chicot County High School as an honor student at the age of 16.

She attended Arkansas AM&N College, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, graduating cum laude in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in English.

While in Pine Bluff, she met a student named J.J. Lacey from Vicksburg, Miss. They got married in 1961 in what was at the time the largest wedding ever held at the Seven Star Baptist Church in Dermott.

They moved to Helena, where Marian taught from 1960 to 1967. Then they lived for two years in Eudora and two years in Clarendon, where J.J. served as a principal.

In 1971, they moved to Bloomington, Ind., so J.J. could work on his doctorate. Both of the Laceys had already earned master's degrees from Indiana University by attending school over several summers.

The couple moved to Little Rock in 1973 and lived there ever since.

In Little Rock, Marian Lacey was assistant principle of Central High, principal at Dunbar Junior High and principal of Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Junior High, while Chelsea Clinton was a student there.

Marian was named a Milken National Educator in 1997.

Along the way, Marian earned a specialist degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and a doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

"We both have always had a Christian foundation, and I guess it was just providence that led us to work with young people, and education was that medium," J.J. Lacey said.

When they took a 25th wedding anniversary trip to San Francisco, the first thing Marian wanted to do was visit a former student who was at nearby Stanford University.

"She tricked me into going to San Francisco just to see Ken," J.J. said.

The Laceys have three children -- Cynthia, Jeffrey Jay, and Julian -- and two grandchildren, Jillian K. and Caden Josiah.

Metro on 06/08/2017

Upcoming Events