Priscilla Margaret Hixson Zuck

Zuck—Priscilla Margaret Hixson Zuck , 94, on October 17, 2016, at Friends Homes Guilford, Greensboro, N.C. Priscilla was born on February 3, 1922, in Erie, Pa., to Katherine Reinwald and Earl E. Hixson. She attended school in Erie County and studied nutrition at Hood College before marrying Melvin A. Zuck in 1943. She spent her married life in loving partnership with Mel, raising her family and helping others at home and abroad. With an artist’s and a gardener’s heart, she showed these in her career as a consummate home engineer, renovator, master gardener, and dedicated social service volunteer. She hosted many events in her home, warmly welcoming old friends and new from around the world. She provided unwavering partnership and support to Mel during his many years with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). They served together in 1947–55 as volunteer coordinators for the AFSC Peace Program in northwestern Pennsylvania. In the 1960s she led a Red Cross volunteer group that reformed the conditions of care in a Houston, Tex., public hospital, an effort chronicled in her friend and author Jan de Hartog’s book The Hospital. A lifelong advocate and activist for women’s rights, she belonged to the League of Women Voters in Greensboro, where she chaired public affairs on the YWCA board from 1972 to 1976 and was president and chair of the membership committee. In 1996–98 they coordinated the AFSC Visa project based in Bangalore, Karnataka (then Mysore), India.

In 1997, she and Mel moved to Friends Homes in Greensboro. Wherever they lived, she was an active member of the local Friends meeting, including Friends Meeting of Austin, Tex.; Live Oak Meeting in Houston, Tex.; Pittsburgh (Pa.) Meeting; and Friendship Meeting in Greensboro. She and Mel sojourned in Honolulu (Hawaii) Meeting, where they were Friends in Residence in 1987–89, and at Friends Meeting of San Antonio, Tex. She often reflected on her years in India, Hawaii, Chicago, and Texas and on vacations in Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Friends will remember her wry wit, sense of humor, tell-it-as-she-saw-it personality, and passion for the causes and projects she adopted.

On October 3, 2016, 14 days before her death, she and Mel celebrated their seventy-third wedding anniversary. They had grown into adulthood together, shared adventures and worldwide travels, and committed their lives to humanitarian, peace, and social justice causes. Priscilla is survived by her husband, Mel Zuck; three children, Lucinda Zuck Frost (David), John Zuck (Lesley Armstrong), and Timothy Zuck; and four grandchildren.

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