Tragedy strikes as young musical talent succumbs to heart condition

Good-bye Marlee: We will miss your sweet smile, music and precocious wit.

SATURDAY MEMORIAL CELEBRATES BRIEF, LOVING LIFE OF MARLEE CLUFF

Marlee Rebecca Cluff loved singing and dancing and pushing the envelope. In top photo, near the end of her life,
she tried a new hair color.  "It wasn't quite what I thought it would be," she confided. "I wanted more purple." 

Marlee loved to sing and dance, here with her mom's
good friend and landlord, James Hayes, on bass.

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

TRAGEDY STRUCK in the wee hours of April 7, when Marlee Rebecca Cluff passed away in the Fort Bragg hospital.
Hours of CPR and emergency medical attention failed to revive her after she collapsed at home in the wee hours. Her death ended a life of medical challenge resulting from a congenital birth defect which compromised her cardiovascular and pulmonary systems and eventually took her life.
Marlee, nine years old, was a brave, bright light , sharing her talents for singing, drawing and dancing with her community and extended family. Everyone who spent time with this charming child admired her talent, wit and courage.
RAISED MOST of her life by Lauren Chalece Cluff, a single mom, Marlee weighed less than five pounds when she was born Aug.31, 2006. She endured her first of many surgeries when only eight days old. Another operation was planned this summer, to replace both her damaged pulmonary artery and an overtaxed aortic valve.

Home for Marlee was Purple Martin Farm near Point Arena.

Marlee’s musical mother sang to her all her short life. Patsy Cline tunes, Billy Holiday ballads and Beatles songs were Marlee’s favorites. She knew many lyrics and 1940s “big band” tunes not familiar to many older musicians.
HER VOCAL talents, intelligence and winning personality charmed friends and family at weddings, reunions and many other functions. Marlee’s drawings and jewelry pieces were impromptu gifts cherished by visitors to her home on Purple Martin Farm near Point Arena. She was a second grader at Pacific Community Charter School.

Marlee was a thoughtful, bright child who will be missed.

AN ENERGETIC tree climber and rain dancer, Marlee loved riding her bike through the forest and farmland.  She had a precocious nature and broad interests, embracing astronomy and the constellations. On the last night of her brief life, she described once seeing a rare “moonbow” and proudly showed off the blossoms of a fruit tree blooming on the farm.
Survivors besides her mother include her mother’s partner, Kieran Roy Martin, whom Marlee called “my super hero,” her step-sister Aya Martin, aunts and uncles and a grieving extended family on the farm run by Kelle Martin and James Hayes. Marlee is also survived by loving grandparents Richard and Shelly Jones, two sets of great grandparents and hundreds of friends and admirers spanning the generations.

Marlee's home in rural Point Arena offered her plenty of flowers to draw.

MARLEE'S MOTHER extends “heartfelt thanks to all the first responders for their extreme efforts to keep Marlee alive. After more than an hour of CPR, these wonderful people still didn't want to give up on Marlee. I will be forever grateful for their loving care, and that her last moments on Earth were spent with such caring people."
Marlee Rebecca's Celebration of life will be held at the Odd Fellow's Hall in Point Arena, Calif., this Saturday April 16, at 3 p.m., appropriate because  Marlee loved the rugged Mendocino coast, and the flowers blooming this time of year. Guests are asked to bring a potluck dish and an anecdote of Marlee's life to share. A live band of locals who loved Marlee will provide dancing music. More details may be found on Aimee Taylor’s Point Arena Update page on Facebook. (Plug in Marlee Cluff.)
A FUND to defray medical and burial expenses has been arranged, in lieu of floral remembrances. The Marlee Cluff Memorial Fund, arranged at Redwood Credit Union, is account number: @2647cluf. Donations may also be sent to Marlee Cluff Memorial, c/o Redwood Credit Union,  PO Box 485, Point Arena, CA 95468. Call 707 545-4000; 1 800 479-7928

The junk is a revered part of Asian culture. We sample it, and a half-dozen
other modes of Asian culture, in the next whereiscookie! 

COMING UP:  
The junk is a revered part of Asian culture. We sample it, and a half-dozen other modes of Asian culture, in the next whereiscookie!
We'll visit Vietnam by bike, Hong Kong by junk, Thailand by tuk-tuk and Japan by bullet train. Come with us to explore Asia with a variety of transportation options.  Remember to explore, learn and live, and catch us Friday afternoons when we post for each weekend. Our specialty is travel with a twist -- as we put our own spirit and stamp on each culture we visit.