Woman’s Press Club of Indiana is mourning the passing of longtime member Marion Simon Garmel, who died Oct. 22 at age 86 in Indianapolis.
A 48-year-member, Garmel held a variety of leadership positions as well as served on numerous committees over the years, supporting WPCI in ways large and small. She also mentored many new members, guiding and encouraging them both professionally and in club activities.
When WPCI President Natalie Hoefer joined the club nine years ago, Garmel was one of the first people she met.
“What I came to know was an accomplished, dedicated, intelligent, independent, can-do woman of action, devoted to family, faith and friends,” Hoefer said. “She is a WPCI treasure, and I will greatly miss her.”
After years of responsibilities, Garmel last served as secretary, keeping minutes and sending a monthly newsletter. She kept up her tasks through technology and health challenges, reliably presenting a well-crafted and engaging email to all members. She also hosted WPCI’s September meeting and pitch-in luncheon just a few weeks before her death.
Garmel also was active in the National Federation of Press Women, of which WPCI is a founding affiliate. She was a director of the NFPW Education Fund, joining Zoom calls of the committee as her health declined and traveling became more difficult. Over the years, she attended numerous national conferences and formed friendships with members of affiliates all over the country.
Hoefer attended her first national meeting with Garmel at her side.
“She was in her 80s and using a cane because of a knee problem,” Hoefer recalled. “When I asked if it hurt, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘Yes, but I don’t let it stop me.’”
Longtime member Julie Slaymaker said “there will forever be a hole in my heart.”
“My head and heart keep getting flooded with treasured memories of being her NFPW adventure conference ‘roomie’ all these years; her year-round tennis and bridge opponent; ambulance driver; and Garmel porch swing confidante,” she said.
Current NFPW Education Fund President Gwen Larson cited Garmel’s contributions in a recent newsletter to all members.
“Marion was passionate about journalism. She especially valued supporting and mentoring the next generation of journalists and joined the NFPW Education Fund as a director more than 10 years ago,” Larson wrote. “Even as her health declined and traveling became more difficult, she joined every Education Fund Zoom call and participated in key decisions, often sharing her perspective, which was shaped by her own experiences.”
Garmel was born in El Paso, Texas, where she was a co-editor and reporter for her high school newspaper as well as a tennis star, later winning a state championship in doubles. She studied journalism and graduated in with honors from the University of Texas in 1958.
Her journalism career included public relations work in Philadelphia, a stint at The Wall Street Journal, then the National Observer, where was the first female staff writer. There, she covered television, theater, books and film.
A move to the Indianapolis News in 1971 was the start of her many years as an arts reporter and reviewer, a position she loved and cultivated. An avid supporter of the arts, Garmel often pointed readers to little-known Hoosier theaters, playwrights, musicians and artists.
After her retirement in 2001, Garmel continued to work for the Indianapolis newspaper and, later, for a local arts weekly. For her work, Garmel earned numerous WPCI and national awards. Among those are WPCI’s Communicator of Achievement and Kate Milner Rabb awards, as well as honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and NFPW’s national contest. She won the WPCI President’s Award in 2019, for what then-president Viv Sade called her vast store of institutional knowledge — and willingness to share it.
“From the moment I met Marion I was impressed with her professionalism, meticulous attention to details, her knowledge of a broad array of subjects, and her kindness and warmth toward others,” Sade said. “Whenever I had a question about WPCI’s history, dates, events or members, I would call Marion. She always had the answers.
“After reading the Indy Star’s tribute to Marion, which highlighted Marion’s life and achievements before I met her in 2004, I am even more honored to have been friends and colleagues with this extraordinary woman and exemplary journalist.”
Garmel’s survivors include her daughter and stepdaughter; numerous grandchildren; two sisters and one brother. Garmel was predeceased by her husband, Raymond Garmel.
For more information:
Read the obituary from the El Paso Times.
See (and leave your) comments on the WPCI Facebook page.
Check out a profile that appeared the IndyStar (paywall).
