During World War II, she worked for Beech Aircraft during World War II and then worked for Kress Department Store in Salina and C. R. Anthony in Hutchinson. It was in Hutchinson that she met her husband, Keith O. Marcum. They were married Nov. 4, 1961, at Overland Park.  She moved to Topeka where her husband was employed with the State of Kansas. She worked for Sears. In 1969, they both transferred with their jobs to Great Bend.

She was a member of First Church of the Nazarene, Great Bend. Even though they didn't have any, Marie loved children. She taught Children's Primary Sunday School classes in Hutchinson, Topeka and Great Bend for many years. Over the years she was called Grandma Marie by the many children who loved her and whose lives she had touched.

Survivors include her husband, Keith O. Marcum, of the home. She was preceded in death by four brothers, Glenn Parks, Ralph Parks, Earl Parks and Tildon Parks, and three sisters, Ruth Black, Jane Ellyson and Dorothy Parks.