SPRINGFIELD, VT- Marian D. Eastman, 93, a longtime resident of Springfield and Weathersfield, died Monday at the Jack Byrne Center in Hanover, NH, after a short illness.

She was born on Aug 20, 1930, in Pittsfield, MA, and grew up in Great Barrington, where she attended schools.

She married John W. Van Hoesen on June 4, 1948, in Chatham, NY, and they lived in Hillsdale, NY, where Mr. Van Hoesen worked for Herrington's, a lumber and fuel oil company. He died on Christmas Eve in 1960, the result of a car accident. Marian remarried in 1963 and moved to Weathersfield Bow, VT.

During her long life, she had been a telephone operator, worked in school lunch programs at Roeliff Jansen Central School in Hillsdale, and the Ascutney, VT, Elementary School.
She managed the family farm finances at Mountain View Farm, and was a homemaker for a blended family of seven children. She valued family over all else, and was a mother figure to many near and far.

Marian was trained as a cake decorator and her special occasion cakes were highly regarded. She also served as a volunteer at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Springfield and was longtime aficionado of Bingo there. She was a longtime bowler, having won the Vermont state senior championship and many other awards. She was a lifelong Red Sox fan, sticking with the team through the thick and thin years.

After leaving Mountain View, she resided in Ascutney, and then in 1989 moved to Springfield, where for 34 years she resided at the Louis Whitcomb Building.

She is survived by a daughter, Nan (Van Hoesen) Reed of West Lebanon, NH; a son, John Van Hoesen of New Haven, VT; stepdaughters, Suzanne (Eastman) Simonds and Ilene (Eastman) Curtis, both of Weathersfield; stepsons, Leighton Eastman of Claremont, NH, and Gary Eastman of Weathersfield Bow; a sister, Patricia Pixley of Great Barrington; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

She was predeceased by most of her large family: her father and mother, John and Carrie Keefner of Great Barrington; and Keefner family members Bess, Bertha, Sylvia, Flora, Robert, Richard, Walter, Charles, Raymond, Joe, and Harold. A stepson Roger G. Eastman Sr. died in 2000.

A memorial reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10 at the fellowship hall of the West Lebanon Congregational Church. A private inurnment will be held at a later date in Hillsdale.

The Knight Funeral Home in White River Junction is handling arrangements.