Marjorie Welch Louis' Obituary
Marjorie Welch Fitts Louis was born in Montgomery, Alabama on May 17, 1938 to the late Mr. Bernard Willard Fitts and Mrs. Aylene Madelyn Welch Fitts. She was the eldest of two beloved daughters. Together with her sister Bernadette Fitts (Lester), Marjorie witnessed history from the pews of the Holt Street Baptist Church. She recalled when the young minister Martin Luther King, Jr. came to town and how Montgomery, Alabama became a part of the movement for equality for all people. In the tenth grade, Marjorie saw an opportunity to have a day off from school and signed up to take a test for college readiness. To her delight, she received a score high enough to be admitted to Fisk University as part of the Ford Foundation Early Entrant Program. There she met her life long friend Wilma Ray (Bledsoe). She received a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Fisk University in 1959. Following graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she taught high school math and science. In D.C., she met her husband Peter Louis, a senior medical student at Howard University. They married June 20, 1964 and had two daughters Jill Bernadette Louis and Erika Bastein Louis. In 1970, Dr. and Mrs. Louis moved to Dallas, Texas. In 1971, she was hired by KERA as a news reporter/documentary producer. From 1971-1977 she appeared on the news magazine format show “Newsroom,” chronicling medical breakthroughs, public health issues, desegregation and civil rights activists. Marjorie was also active in a number of community service organizations and served on the boards of the Dallas Theater Center, North Dallas Reading Service, and Dallas Services for the Visually Impaired. Additionally, she was a participant in the Goals for Dallas Forum, and served as a docent at the Dallas Museum of Art. After leaving public broadcasting she focused on community service and raising her two daughters. She later returned to academia at the University of Alabama receiving a Master of Arts degree in Women’s Studies. In 1990, she joined the faculty of the Social Science Department at Brookhaven Community College, teaching Sociology and Social Problems until her retirement. Scientist, educator, journalist, wife, mother, sister, friend, Marjorie Welch Fitts Louis in her 78th season of life entered her eternal rest on May 23, 2016. She is survived by her beloved family, husband of over 51 years, Dr. Peter Louis, daughters, Jill Louis Bowman (Randy) and Erika B. Louis; cherished grandchildren, Malcolm Peter Louis Bowman, Rachel Lois Hunt Bowman and Madelyn Lange Walton, sister Dr. Bernadette Fitts Lester (Albert); two wonderful nieces; and so many wonderful nurturing friends. Memorial service will be held Monday, May 30, 2016, at St. Monica Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, at Restland Road, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers, it was her express wish that memorials may be made to the Parkland Memorial Hospital Foundation to enhance the health and welfare of our community.
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