Pine Island remembers one of its own
Although a woman who made a huge impact on the lives of many passed away, she left an everlasting imprint on everyone she encountered within the Pine Island community.
Marianne Paton, who became the editor of the Pine Island Eagle on Dec. 6, 2002, died Sept. 12.
Barry Thrasher said he was introduced to Paton through her sister JoAnn, which led to their first meeting at Lob Lolly in Matlacha 10 years ago. He said it was located beside Wild Child Art Gallery before Hurricane Charley took it away.
Thrasher said she became his best friend over the years.
Paton was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on Feb. 15, 1956. She was 55.
“When she was 6 months old, the family moved to California and lived there for a while and then at an early age she was swept off her feet by her husband, Darryl Conrad,” Thrasher said.
She was married to for 28 years.
He said Conrad was from New Hampshire and some of Paton’s family lived in New Hampshire, so they moved there and began a family with three sons.
Thrasher said they eventually split up and Paton was invited to visit her mother in Florida and never left.
Paton’s intelligence and background always impressed Thrasher, especially the experiences that made her such a good writer.
Thrasher said some of her accomplishments include being the past president of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, a more than 10-year member of the Outdoors Writers Association of America, a radio talk show host of her own program that interviewed professional fishermen, a writer for several outdoor magazines, a freelance writer of more than 1,000 online articles, along with her own column for a local newspaper in New Hampshire.
One of her fondest memories of being a writer that Paton would always share, Thrasher said, was her interview with Ted Nugent.
She met Nugent at his hotel room with another young writer for the interview. Thrasher said the younger reporter was not nearly as experienced and comfortable as Paton was with guns.
He said when Marianne started the interview she brought out her tape recorder, note pad and then the gun that she carried in her purse and put it on the coffee table. Nugent took out his gun and put it alongside hers.
Thrasher said the young, inexperienced writer was appalled and had no idea what was going on.
“They had a mutual respect and a little humor at the young writer’s expense,” Thrasher said.
He said Paton also interviewed other well-known individuals during her career.
“She had been around and knew all these people and she was a well respected member of the writing community,” Thrasher said.
While Paton was the president of the New Hampshire Wildlife Association, she spearheaded some major legislation for wildlife preservation, Thrasher said, which led to her knowing three New Hampshire governors on a first- name basis.
“She was very well-known in and around New Hampshire,” he said.
Many great times were shared over the years.
“We had a really good time when we were friends and we traveled all over,” Thrasher said about the Keys and Savannah, Georgia. “We spent a lot of time boating and fishing together.”
Another person whose life was touched by Paton was Robin Lilly. She met Paton almost four years ago because she owns a deli a few doors down from the Pine Island Eagle’s office.
“I saw her almost every day,” she said, adding that she was always finicky about what she ate. “She was very particular with what she did and did not eat. She absolutely hated onions.”
Due to Paton’s many years of involvement with the Matlacha Hookers, she was able to get Lilly involved in the non-profit organization of women who raise money for Pine Island, especially Pine Island Elementary School.
Lilly said Paton was involved with the Hookers for a long time and was even the vice madam for a while.
“She made a big impact on our community,” Lilly said about Paton. “She is going to be missed Island wide. It is a great loss for our community.”
She said Paton was extremely good about introducing her to people around Pine Island and was always full of knowledge.
After Hurricane Charley hit Pine Island, Cindy Tolliver and Paton became closer friends. The two met about 10 years ago through the Hookers.
Tolliver said some of her fondest memories were of the nights they sat out on her patio after Hurricane Charley. She said Paton stayed with her for two weeks after the hurricane because her roof had been blown off.
“She and I sat out on the patio and we got to know each other really well,” Tolliver said. “We spent a lot of time together after that.”
After Hurricane Charley devastated the area, Tolliver said she went around the community with Paton delivering ice and helping the community.
“She was a great gal,” Tolliver said. “She was fun hanging out with.”
In addition, she said Paton was always readily available to do articles on everything.
“She always made me smart in the newspaper when she interviewed me,” Tolliver said laughing. She said before they parted ways after an interview, she always reminded Paton to make her “smart” in the articles.
Paton was also a huge supporter of the American Legion on Pine Island throughout her career with the Eagle. Barry August, commander of the American Legion, said he met Paton 10 years ago.
“She was absolutely fabulous,” he said. “She will be severely missed around here.”
August said he enjoyed how Paton communicated with the members of the Legion. Over the years, he said Paton helped in building their membership and raising money because of the constant communication they had through phone conversations, email and in person.
“I love Marianne,” August said. “Every time I saw her she was always very friendly and gave me a lot of suggestions for the charities I am involved with.”
When asked to share some of his fondest memories of Paton he replied “all of them.”
“All the memories I have of Marianne are a fond memory,” August said. “Every time I was with her I had a great time with her.”
Paton also supported the Kiwanis Club on Pine Island, Pattie Burman, a member of the club said.
“I worked hand-in-hand with Marianne with a lot of events out here,” Burman said, adding that she always wrote wonderful articles for them regarding Taste of the Island.
The two got to know each other about 12 or 13 years ago.
Her fondest memory was the last one she had with Paton a month and a half before she passed away at a Kiwanis meeting she was covering.
Burman said Paton asked her to look at her foot because she was experiencing problems with it and was in extreme pain, but doctors were not able to tell her what was wrong. She said she told her to go to the hospital because it looked serious. The very next day Paton returned and asked Burman to look at her foot again, which encouraged her to go to the hospital.
“She was just a dear friend that I could go and sit down and have a cup of coffee with and talk about Pine Island events and occurrences,” Burman said. “She had a big heart for everybody. It is a very big change for the island and a very big loss for the island.”
Another business owner on Pine Island was touched by Paton and what she did for the community through the newspaper.
Betsy Hasameier, a farmer, said she really got to know Paton after Hurricane Charley. She said a memory that stuck out the most was when the four pastors of various churches on the island came together to begin a relief effort for all those affected.
Approximately 100-200 people gathered that day to offer a helping hand. Hasameier said the pastor walked around to talk to everyone to see who they were affiliated with. She said the pastor came to Paton and she said “I am an editor of the paper and I am a Hooker.”
“She said it straight faced,” Hasameier said.
After that statement, the tense atmosphere loosened a little as every one shared a laugh.
“She had a great sense of humor and a really good objective view of both the positive and negative about the citizens and island itself,” she said.
Hasameier said Pine Island is a very energetic community that holds a lot of events and fund-raisers. She said even though they all thought their event or mission at the time was the most important thing, Paton would find time to attend everyone’s event and make sure their issues were well served in the paper.
“She really told the tale of Pine Island. No matter what hour it was, she was there. You had somebody that paid attention to us,” Hasameier said. “She is pretty amazing, she did tremendous work for us.”
Although Joe Marzella, Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Department Deputy Chief only knew Paton through work for the past eight years, she impacted his life because she always kept him informed of what was happening out on the Island.
Keeping the community informed was something Paton did exceptionally well, her co-workers agreed.
“Marianne was well-respected both within the Breeze Newspapers and the community she served,” said Breeze editor Chris Strine. “She knew community journalism and that was reflected weekly in the Eagle, with its concentration on events and the issues that are important on Pine Island.
“She will be greatly missed,” he said. “She left some big shoes to fill.”
Paton is survived by her loving family including three sons, Jeremy W. Conrad of Brooklyn, New York, Michael William Conrad of Santa Rosa, Californa, and Steven Darryl Conrad of Brooklyn, New York as well as her mother, Joan A. Paton Shearin (Bob) and two brothers, Patrick F. Paton of North Fort Myers and John F.K. Paton of Bedford, NH; and two sisters, JoAnn (Richard) Warner of Matlacha Isles and Dorothy (Anthony) Riccio of Concord NH as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews across the nation and her good friend Barry Thrasher.
She was preceeded in death by her father Francis William Paton.
An announcement regarding her Memorial Service to be held at the American Legion will be released in the Pine Island Eagle at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to Hope Hospice, 2430 Diplomat Parkway East Cape Coral, FL 33909-5405