Beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and friend Marian Driggs Gresseth, of Salt Lake City, passed away on April 27, 2024 at age 88.
Marian grew up in the Sugarhouse neighborhood with her sister Ann and parents Keith and Connie. She graduated from East High School, then from the University of Utah, with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.
She was happily married for 46 years to Gerald Gresseth, a University of Utah Classics professor. They raised five children: Delia, Hilary, Curt, Cecily, and Maggie. Marian adored her four grandchildren: Ivan, Darren, Angelica, Hayden, and Max – and three great grandchildren: Ian, August, Diovanni, and D’Artagnan.
Marian was a life-long artist who loved painting cows and horses at Wheeler Farm, designing fantastical costumes for Halloween, creating beautiful holiday tables, and more. She was a friend-for-life to many. Known for her vigorous and vibrant approach to life, she will be missed.
Memorial services will be held on June 5, 2024, from 4-6pm at Murray Park Pavilion #4 (406 East Vine Street, Murray, Utah). Please email MarianMemorialSLC@gmail.com with any questions.
Guestbook/Condolences
The best mother possible and a role model for living life to the fullest!! Remembered and loved by so many of us. ❤️
For me Marian will always be remembered as a very special person to be around and as my grandmother
We have loved Marian’s gorgeous handmade Christmas cards every year, and looked forward to them! She was clever and an observant in depicting Christmas scenes for her cards…. I’ve saved them all.
Her daughter Cecily and my nephew Ed have had a great rapport with one another. I’m glad for them all.
Sandy and Bob Gecsi
Marian was a wonderful friend to my mother, Marie Christensen Dern. I have many fond memories of visiting the Gresseth family as a young girl in Salt Lake City when we'd go there to visit my grand parents. My siblings and I (Fritz, Amy and James) all send our love to the family!
I met Marian on her honeymoon with Dad when I was young, and she was a beautiful lithe woman in her twenties. A few years later I came to live with them and became part of their growing family. She and Dad were partners in all they did, from intellectually discussing the politics of the day, to laboring in the hot sun to put in a yard by hand.
She was the consummate gourmet cook and devotee to Julia Child and House Beautiful magazines. Gracious living was her style, and she personified "Miss Manners" naturally and was truly an "Iconic Lady" of her time in the Sixties.
She helped me with homework, sewed inventive Halloween costumes, and school clothes from the latest Vogue patterns. I help her fix elegant canapes & cocktails for her University parties, and she taught me how to live graciously, kindly, and with compassion.
She will always hold a place of LOVE in my heart!
Delia
What a wonderful friend Marian was to my mother, Marie. I also have many, many fond and happy memories with the family. Marian’s sense of humor and her tenacity for including those around her is what made her so special to me and my family. Thank you Marian
What a lovely lady she was. My girls spent hours at her house with her girls. My son has such fond memories of her giving him a treat whenever he showed up at her door. She had a wonderful spirit, a kind soul and a peaceful, gentle presence about her. Rest well Marion.
There are no words to describe her graceful presence, the way she made you feel so comfortable and at home. And her gourmet cooking! I always look forward to going over there, I'd like to chat with her, I absolutely adore her food! Her house was so European. What a wonderful woman
Mrs. Gresseth was a wonderful woman, who could always light up the room with her cheerful energy. I was friends with her son Curt in my youth and would always stop to pick him up on the way to school. She was always so kind, offering hit chocolate on many a cold day or an encouraging word as I waited for Curt in the oversized wooden chairs in the sitting room. She was truly like a mom to the neighborhood and I have never forgotten her kindness.