Marcia C Bunzey

Marcia Cary Bunzey, 95, recently of Marchand Manor, Sharon Springs, died on December 2, 2025 at Palatine Bridge Rehab.The family is extremely grateful for the kindness and care she received.

Marcia was the youngest of 10 children, born July 1, 1930, to A. Heywood and Mary Henderson Cary in Fort Edward, NY.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Marcia said she did not know they were poor, because the farm always produced enough to eat and the hand-me-downs she wore were all she knew.  Among the many colorful stories Marcia told of her childhood were memories of farm life along the Hudson River. They swam in it, picked 12 quart milk pails full of blackberrieson the banks, and were thrilled to see the river used as a pleasure boat and shipping lane.  In winter, the work horses pulled the family in a sleigh across the ice to visit her grandparents. She was a good student and loved the little school house she attended until grade five, enjoyed spelling tests at the front of the classroom and never worried about germs when she and her classmates shared the one tin dipper for water. Nor were they sick very often, according to Marcia.  The farmhouse had an old, out of tune piano in an unheated parlor where, as a child, she began to pick out tunes in the cold room with one freezing finger. She worked at music like this, on her own, until she was able to have lessons from a neighbor. Marcia later gave informal piano lessons to any interested children in her life.

She earned a degree in Early Childhood as a young woman and then at the age of 45 completed BOCES LPN training.  Immediately upon graduating from college, she married Grant Richard Bunzey, Sr. (Dick) and they raised three children in Cobleskill. She also held various jobs in the area: at the Cobleskill Campus Nursery School, as clerk and assistant to Dr. Dougall on Union St., Medical Records transcriptionist at the hospital and as an LPN in the ER.  

Upon Dick’s retirement, the couple began to fulfill a dream of mission work which took them away from Cobleskill for 30 years.

They first volunteered at Red Bird Methodist Mission in Kentucky, which aids people in the mountainous coal mining areas. Dick managed the farm at Henderson Settlement while Marcia worked in various Community services, such as driving the bookmobile out into the “hollers” and as an assistant in the Medical Clinic. 

They later became members of Roving Volunteers in Christ’s Service, which involved traveling together with other couples, each in their own campers, moving around the country as they used their skills to improve facilities at numerous Christian ministries.

Marcia and Dick next volunteered at ECHO, Inc., a Christian agency in Florida dedicated to relieving hunger around the world. College graduates trained there as Agricultural Missionaries aiming to helping farmers to improve crops and irrigation methods suited to their various climates and alsomaintaining a seedbank for use around the world. Dick made use of his farming skills and Marcia served in the office, as well as a tour guide for people interested in the experimental crops and unique farming methods.

Eventually, they retired to a rural town in central Florida called Lake Placid, living there 16 years before returning to Cobleskill.  Born of Quaker heritage, Marcia joined the Methodist church after marriage, but her years of volunteer service gave her a broad view and she was comfortable in any worship service where Jesus Christ is the center of Life. In recent years she has been a member of Christian Community Church of Faith in Richmondville. 

Marcia was preceded in death by her loving husband, Grant Bunzey, Sr. in 2013, their son, Grant Jr. in 2001, and a grandson, Clay Warner in 2017.  She is survived by a son, Berkley (Colleen Mulkey) of Florida, daughter-in-law Marcia HewettBunzey(Grant Jr., deceased) and a daughter, Echo BunzeyWarner of Cobleskill.  Also surviving are her grandchildren Craig Bunzey(Amelia), Denice Bunzey Eckler(Wade), Chris(Karen) Bunzey, Jaime Bunzey Koller(Will), and Lake Warner.  Great Grandchildren are: Camden Eckler, Luke Eckler, Gretchen Eckler, Heidi Eckler, Barrington Koller, Charlotte Koller, Emma Bunzey, Madilyn Bunzey, Eric Bunzey, Daniel Bunzey and Emily Bunzey. 

Brewer Funeral Home in Lake Luzerne is caring for arrangements and burial will be next to Dick near his home in Stony Creek, NY. Services will be announced at a later date, to take place in the summer.

Memorial contributions can be made to Christian Community Church of Faith, PO Box 93, Richmondville, NY 12149

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