Biography

Adrienne Maravich Meckel

March 17, 1949 - January 19, 2010

Early in the morning of January 19th, Adrienne’s heart stilled and she was peacefully freed from a body that simply could no longer contain her loving, vibrant spirit. The sustaining warmth of her family and friends surrounded her in her final weeks...she was dearly loved.

Adrienne was born on March 17, 1949 to a Serbian immigrant mother, Branislava, and an American Army officer, John Maravich. She was blessed with two younger sisters, Mary and Michelle, whose enduring love and affection she enjoyed and returned to the very end of her life. Her father served in Europe and so her family lived in France and Germany for her childhood years and later settled in Las Vegas, Nevada where John was attached to the Nellis Air Force base. Adrienne was valedictorian of her high school graduating class in 1967, entered University of Southern California and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She was awarded a Danforth Fellowship for advanced studies and it funded her academic career which included a master’s degree from Monterey Institute of International Studies and two masters and a PhD from Stanford University. During her years at Stanford, she served as administrator of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, co-authored two books on student behavior and classroom management, and found her life’s work in the training of new teachers and the support of educational institutions.

Adrienne did her own student teaching at King Junior High School in Seaside and, upon completing her work at Stanford, became the Director of Lower and Middle Schools at Santa Catalina School. Those ten happy years at Catalina led her even further into the teacher education field and she joined the Monterey County of Office of Education as Director of Curriculum and became a specialist in school improvement programs. She served the California State Office of Education as a designer and developer of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program which has nurtured the careers of thousands of new teachers in California.

Adrienne was an accomplished pianist and singer, spoke Serbo-Croation fluently and was conversant in French and German. Her mother, a fine linguist who spoke several languages, encouraged and supported her love of language.

Although successful in her work, there was never a moment’s doubt in the minds of those who knew her that her greatest love and deepest devotion was to her family. In 1972, she married Peter Meckel. They developed and sustained a profoundly loving and mutually supportive relationship. They produced two children: Moya Anne Meckel-Faulkner, a nurse at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital in NYC and Jon-Peter Meckel, a graduate student in engineering at Cal-Poly, San Luis Obispo. Peter and Adrienne also helped to raise Peter’s two older children: Christina Meckel-Benson, a non-profit development consultant in Minneapolis, MN, and Christopher Meckel, MD, a local orthopedic surgeon. All four children and their spouses, Gary Faulkner , Jeff Benson and Tamara Craig and three grandchildren, Ryan, Mira and Freya and nephew, Marco, adored her and drew strength, wisdom, and warmth from her. Her delightful wit and genuine loving nature were treasured by all who knew her. Adrienne dealt with her disease in the same way she lived the rest of her life: with pervasive optimism, selflessness, and unwavering strength.

The family wishes to express heartfelt appreciation for the caring, intelligent doctoring Adrienne received from Dr. Thomas Bradley during her eight years with cancer. The medical staff at Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula was, to a person, talented, conscientious, and compassionate. They shoulder difficult work and are deserving of great praise.

If there are those who wish to make a contribution in honor of Adrienne, the family suggests the American Cancer Society, 945 S. Main St., Ste. 201, Salinas, 93901 or the Oncology Department at CHOMP, PO Box HH, Monterey, 93942.

A celebration of Adrienne’s life will take place at Hidden Valley Music Seminars Theatre on February 6th at 3:00PM.