Marian Loomis Ascoli of Urbana passed away Sunday, February 15, 2015 at Meadowbrook Health Center, a month and a half before her 93rd birthday. Born Marian "Mimi" Russell Loomis on March 31, 1922, during a blizzard in Arlington Massachusetts, her parents were Hubert Hillhouse Loomis and Frances Russell Loomis, a Boston business man and a professional artist respectively. Marian's childhood was spent in Bedford, Massachusetts, immersed in her family's long history in this country, beginning as early American settlers. Her sister Elizabeth "Betsy" Loomis passed away in 1996; her sister Danielle "Didi" Loomis Torrey (Calvin Torrey) survives.

Marian graduated in 1939 from Lexington Senior High School, in Lexington, Massachusetts, and in 1943 from Mount Holyoke College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. While at Mount Holyoke, Marian met her dear lifelong friend and future sister-in-law Ida Ascoli (later married to Norman Freiberger), formerly of Milan, Italy. Marian received an MS in Social Work from Simmons College in 1945 and began service in the American Red Cross that same year. She met Giulio Ascoli while sharing an apartment in Boston with his sister Ida in 1947.

Marian married Giulio Ascoli in June 1950 in her parents' garden in Bedford, Massachusetts. They moved to Champaign, Illinois, that same year, where Giulio took up a faculty position in the Physics Department of the University of Illinois, and they soon after began to raise a family. After moving to Champaign, Marian studied Italian in order to maintain contact with Giulio's family and friends in Italy (especially his mother Paola and father Alberto), which she did throughout the subsequent years, both in letters and in person, using what she too modestly called her "kitchen Italian." Marian and Giulio had three children: Albert Russell Ascoli (Barbara Spackman) of Berkeley, California; Frances Ascoli Burmeister (Richard A. Burmeister) of Fairfield, Iowa; and Jean Loomis Ascoli (Michael R. Meadows) of Urbana, Illinois. Richard A. Burmeister passed away in 2010.

Throughout her adult life, Marian was a devoted mother and homemaker, waiting until her children were all in school before she also resumed a professional career. She worked in child welfare with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services from the mid 1960s to 1972. In 1972 she joined the staff of Family Service of Champaign County in the TeleCare program (now Senior Resource Center). She began as a caseworker making home visits to assess needs. By 1973 she had helped to establish fifteen active coffee groups in the area to help alleviate the loneliness felt by so many seniors. In 1974, Marian became manager of the TeleCare program and agency assistant director in 1978. In 1980, Marian was promoted to serve as the Executive Director of Family Service. Among her many professional achievements, Marian received the Illinois Chapter, Illini District, National Association of Social Workers (NASW) award for social worker of the year in 1974-75, 1977 and 1986; Champaign County Mental Health Association award for Person of the Year in 1983; and recognition for outstanding contribution to social welfare in Illinois by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work in 1986. According to Sheryl Bautch, the current Executive Director of Family Service: "Marian led Family Service through an era of unprecedented growth and expansion in the 1970s and 1980s that helped the agency evolve to meet current community needs. Her vision for Family Service and our role in the community is the foundation of our work and our mission today."

Marian loved being a grandmother to her two grandchildren by Albert and Julie Drew of Evanston, IL, Mary Alexander Ascoli of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Samuel Drew Ascoli of Ames, Iowa. She also continued a loving relationship with Julie, her "daughter-out-law." Marian also treasured all her nieces and nephews, James Torrey, Samuel Torrey, Pamela Torrey Collinson, Linda Torrey Kersbergen, Nathan Torrey, Deborah Torrey Bouffard, Paul Freiberger, and Amy Freiberger Blumenthal, and her many grandnieces and nephews.

Marian retired in 1987 to care for her husband in his final illness. Giulio Ascoli passed away in 1992. His brother-in-law Norman Freiberger passed away in 1996. His sister, Marian's dear friend Ida, passed away in 2006. In 1991 Marian moved into an apartment in Clark Lindsey Village (CLV). She served on the resident board, hosted monthly music presentations for fellow residents, and shared the music she loved with residents of Meadowbrook Health Center. Marian was an avid life-long reader, particularly enjoying historic fiction. In spite of debilitating osteoarthritis, as long as she was able Marian traveled to visit friends and family, making annual visits to her sister Didi in Maine; traveling to Alaska in 1995 with Ida and Norman Freiberger; and traveling with her grandchildren to Nova Scotia to visit with her across-the-hall-neighbors from CLV at their summer home. She had many life-long friends and new friends from Clark Lindsey - too many to name them all.

Marian is remembered for her direct, no-nonsense communication style, coupled with a wonderful wry sense of humor, her compassion and caring, wisdom and counsel, and deep commitment to family. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions to Family Service of Champaign County. A memorial celebration of Marian's life will be held in the Huegy Lounge at Clark Lindsey Village, March 14th, 2015 at 1:30 PM.