HEART A GIVING
An unconventional college path prepared Marie Ginther for an extraordinary life of service / BY JENNY KUSTRA-QUINN
Just four years after taking an early retirement at age 54 from her career as a corporate comptroller, Marie Ginther (BBA ’87) was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2011. During those years between retirement and failing health, she committed herself to service projects in the neediest areas of Cairo, the Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Vietnam. Back home in New York City, she worked in a soup kitchen and as an end-of-life doula, comforting and advo- cating for the terminally ill. Marie didn’t do these things because her time was limited; she
couldn’t have known the cruel fate that awaited her. She lived this way, according to her husband Ray Ginther, because that’s just how she is—“a beautiful, giving person.” The Ginthers both retired early. It was a decision that enabled
them to travel extensively, including taking a cross-country bicycle trip, and to make a difference in many lives before Marie’s illness started taking its toll. “I tell people all the time, if you have a chance to do something, do it now,” says Ray. “You don’t know what the future will hold.” Today, Ray speaks for Marie, who at 62 years old is in the late
stages of her disease and living in a full-time care facility near the couple’s home. For those who love Marie, it’s difficult to accept that this independent woman who embraced life must now depend entirely on others. “It’s not fair. She had so much to give,” Ray says. He says doctors tell him they’re increasingly seeing younger
Alzheimer’s patients. “People need to be aware, because the implica- tions are devastating.” Marie’s story is a cautionary tale, a reminder to live, like she did,
with urgency and purpose. She even took this approach in pursu- ing a college degree, which she started in her home state of Utah.
That’s where she went on a blind date and met her future husband, who was working in publishing after graduating from Michigan State University. They married in 1975 and moved to Chicago three years later. Marie began working as a royalties accountant for Playboy and enrolled in night classes at Loyola. When Ray had an opportunity to work in the home office of
Condé Nast in New York City, Marie encouraged him to take the job. They made the move, but Marie was determined to continue her education—and to earn her accounting degree from Loyola. She found a new accounting job in New York and wanted to con-
tinue taking night and weekend classes. Marie turned to an advisor from Loyola to help guide her through the process of choosing classes at New York schools that could be transferred to count toward her Loyola degree. “We’ve always been grateful to Loyola. The way Sandra (the advisor) looked out for Marie was everything to us,” Ray recalls. Marie never gave up, balancing full-time work with the demands
of college. Toward the end of her education, she was also pregnant with her first son, Matt. At three weeks old, he accompanied Marie and Ray back to Chicago for his mother’s graduation. It was 1987, and the Loyola journey that began nine years earlier was finally complete: Marie had earned her degree from Loyola’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS). Marie went on to have another son, Tommy, and a successful ca-
reer. She retired as a principal from Renaissance Technologies LLC, an investment management company where she worked for 20 years.
Retirement provided Marie an opportunity to give back. She volunteered in the soup kitchen and at Mount Sinai Hospital. She served on the board of Good Shepherd Volunteers, which sends
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