On April 8, with her family at her side, Marie Ficken passed away at Fairfax Inova Hospital after a stroke suffered April 3 in the evening before Easter church services. She was born August 11, 1918 in Regina, Saskatchewan, one of twelve children of John and Mary Tudor. She married Father Theodosie Scala, a Romanian Orthodox priest, in 1940 in Regina, moving with him over the years to Nebraska, Michigan, and Massachusetts where he established parishes. They moved to Washington, D.C. in 1960 and established the parish of Holy Cross in Alexandria, Va. Father Scala passed away in 1967. She later married Rudolph W. Ficken, who died in 1992. Marie was an accomplished musician, composer, and choir conductor, founding church choirs at Orthodox parishes of Holy Cross, Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Mary’s, where she was a founding member of the parish. Her Pan Orthodox Madrigal Choir performed at the White House, the Supreme Court, the Kennedy Center and the National Cathedral, and she was a founder of the “Festival of Choirs” in 1975. Several times she conducted as many as 200 choir members at the Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers. She was recognized by Metropolitan Theodosius in 1988 for her “dedicated stewardship of time, labor and talent for the Holy Orthodox Church and its people.” This year the parish of St. Mary’s commissioned an icon to be painted and a choir loft constructed in the church in her honor. She is survived by her two children, Armand A. Scala and Antoinette S. Robertson, and their spouses, Christina Y. Scala and Thomas B. Robertson, her stepson, Rudolph W. Ficken, Jr., and his wife Jill, three grandchildren, Armand A. Scala II, Thomas G. Robertson, and Elizabeth T. Robertson, and hundreds of loving family and friends inspired by her life, her music, and her example. Visitation will be Monday night, April 12, at Joseph Gawler’s Sons Funeral Home, 5130 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington from 6 – 8:00 p.m., and at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Falls Church, on Tuesday, April 13, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a memorial service at 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at St. Mary Orthodox Church, 7223 Roosevelt Ave, Falls Church, April 14 at 11:00 a.m., with interment to follow at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Marie’s memory.