Marion, born on December 4, 1928, has been involved in all things St. George’s since coming here in 1976. Lois Rambo was teaching in Woodbridge and he was in Manassas. They liked the Fredericksburg community and the history connected with the town. Coming to St. George’s was natural for Marion – he is the son of clergyman and teacher. Marion earned a Doctorate in Latin American Studies from the University of Va. and also a masters degree from Stanford. He was a Spanish teacher through his career though occasionally he had to alternate with French.
He served the Vestry in four difference decades, 1979-1981, 1984-1985 and then 1990-92 culminating in his service as senior warden in 1992 and then finally 2002-2004.
He also has been a leader in long term planning and particularly planned giving. He served as chair of the Long Range Planning Committee in the early years of this century when they were looking at properties for expansion. He made the motion in 2002 in the vestry to ask the “Planned Giving Committee to develop and present a comprehensive plan to establish an endowment fund for St. George’s.” This would eventually lead to the development of the General Endowment Fund.
He was a champion of our renovations and provided generous support. He remembers fundraising with Bill Munsie for the 1979 restoration. He was particularly interested in restoring the reredos. The reredos had been a prominent part of the altar until it was removed in 1954. He was involved in the restoration of the reredos by the Moyers Company in 2000 and its reintroduction to the altar since he was chair of the Worship Commission.
Marion is known for his booming voice which he used effectively for many years as lector and also singing in the choir. He also served as trustees on our trusts, mostly recently the Herndon Trust 2008-2013. He also was involved in our ministry to Honduras, Our Little Roses as cochair for financing. He was the first St. Georgian to visit in conjunction with that ministry. He also remembers scheduling the servers for many years.
Outside of St. George’s, Marion has shown a deep appreciation of history. He was involved in the Sons of the American Revolution and in particular for establishing a Fielding Lewis Chapter in Fredericksburg in 1999.
Marion was married to Lois Bush Rambo until her death in 2011 at the age of 83. Lois was an accomplished needle worker, loved to travel, loved music and sang in the Loudoun Chorale. She attended Bridgewater College on a full scholarship, graduated from Shepherd University at Shepherdstown, WV, and received a master’s degree from VPI-SU. She taught at Loudoun County High School; worked for Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA; was a librarian at Blue Ridge School in St. George; attended the University of the Americans in Mexico City; and was headmistress of the of the middle school at Julius T. Wight School for Girls in Mobile, AL. Mrs. Rambo taught for 39 years and retired in 1991