Haver, Marceline
HAVER, Marceline
Marceline "Marci" Haver (née Dicks), 91, died peacefully on February 9, 2020 after suffering several years with advanced Alzheimer's disease. Her memorial, scheduled for April, 2020, was cancelled due to Covid-19 and serious illness with one of her children. We have yet to reschedule the service, but we remember and miss her every day, especially on the anniversary of her death.
She was born on Armistice Day, November 11, 1928, to Roy Dicks and Mabel Dicks (née Roberts) and was given the name Marceline Clodia Dicks. She grew up in Lake City, Florida. She had one younger brother, the late Roy Dicks Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia Dicks (Lester), who resides in Valdosta.
She is survived by her children, Lowell Eugene Haver of Scottdale, Sandra Marie Haver Ayenew (Asefa Ayenew) of Stone Mountain, Dr. Paul David Haver (Sharon Wong) of Athens, and Charles Roy Haver of Atlanta. She was predeceased by her eldest son, Donald Lynn Haver (1988). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Kevin Matthew Haver, Daniel Eugene Haver, Kasaye Asefa Ayenew, Michael Alexander Haver and William Harrison Haver. Her grandson, Stephen Arlo Haver, subsequently passed away in February, 2021.
She attended Florida Christian College, and graduated from David Lipscomb College in Nashville, where she also met her beloved, Robert "Bob" Wayne Haver of Newcomerstown, OH. They were wed on June 8, 1950 shortly after graduating. They were happily married for 58 years until his death in December, 2008.
She and her husband both grew up in Church of Christ families, but together they decided to leave the denomination in the 1960s, eventually finding their way to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta where they enjoyed singing in the choir.
She was a loving mother and housewife for many years, and taught piano lessons out of the family's home. She later attended Georgia State University, graduating in 1977 with a degree in education. She became a music teacher for the Atlanta Public Schools, teaching at Whitefoord, Beecher Hills and Toomer Elementary Schools.
In the 1960s, she and her husband became active in local politics, joining Southwest Atlanta for Progress (SWAP) as white flight was beginning to occur in their neighborhood. They resided in Southwest Atlanta for more than 40 years before later moving to Decatur. They were also active in Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), as well as Advocates for Special Citizens (ASC) and Residential Resource Alternatives (RRA), helping to establish and run group homes for the mentally disabled in South Fulton County.
She was a kind and loving mother and grandmother, and is sorely missed.
