Marcia Lee Raker

Marcia Raker was born in Scranton, PA in 1937 to Ruth and Milford Raker. An only child, her years in this community were filled with a close network of extended family members and wonderful memories of summers on her family’s farm in Factoryville, PA where her father inspired her early love for horses and country living. It was there that she learned to ride and enjoy meals from the garden which led to a lifelong love of gardening, flowers and farm fresh food.

Marcia’s father relocated to Longmeadow, MA in the early 1940s when he bought Clark Paint Factory, a paint manufacturing business with a storefront in West Springfield, MA. Marcia moved to Longmeadow in 1946 and attended elementary and grammar school in town, later graduating from Northampton School for Girls in 1955. As a youngster, she attended Camp Danbee for several years in the Berkshires. She was confirmed at Temple Beth El in Springfield where she has been a lifelong congregant.

Marcia attended both Syracuse University and Boston University as a fine arts major. She returned to Longmeadow and managed the expanding Clark Paint brand’s second retail store on Riverdale Road. In 1960, Marcia married Joseph A. Schwartz of Waban, MA. They had three children, Andrew, Heidi and Maggie, and divorced in 1964, a year after Marcia’s beloved father unexpectedly passed away.

An entrepreneurial, business-minded single mother, Marcia raised her three children on her own and instilled in them the importance of a strong work ethic, the essentials of running a small business and family responsibility. Marcia’s children each have their own businesses: Andrew is the owner of Clark Paint; Heidi owns a public relations firm, RG Narrative; and Maggie owns Jozev Products, a mixed grocery wholesaler in East Longmeadow.

Before Marcia and Maggie established Jozev Products in 1992, the mother-daughter team traveled to Israel in search of a jewelry line to export to the US under the name MagMar and developed a robust customer base of Dillard’s, Bergdorf Goodman and other top-tier department and specialty stores. After five years, Maggie and Marcia, both business visionaries, would go on to establish Jozev Products, addressing a deficit in the federal government’s bureau of prisons’ commissaries for more healthful, diverse products. Jozev has grown to become a celebrated women-owned business which serves customers from coast to coast.

Marcia has four grandchildren: Isabel, Olivia and Joshua (Heidi and Stuart Goldstein) and Chloe (Maggie).

She will be greatly missed and remembered for her sharp wit, sense of humor, independence, creativity, intelligence, spirituality and entrepreneurial spirit as well as her love for nature, animals and fine arts.

A private family service will take place Wednesday, February 21 and visitors are invited to pay their respects between 5:00-7:00 PM at 231 Colony Road in Longmeadow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation in Marcia’s name to New England Equine Rescue or an animal rescue organization of your choice.