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Seaman -- Marjorie Reinette Barlow Seaman. Born in Oxford, N.C, on July 17, 1925. Reinette Seaman died peacefully on May 16, 2003 at the Mission Viejo, California home of her daughter and family. Reinette was born to John Howard and Marjorie Steele Barlow. The family moved to Charleston, SC, where her father worked for the South Carolina Gas Company. She graduated from Memminger High School, Charleston, in June 1941. She had studied piano as part of her high school curriculum and pursued this interest at Coker College, Hartsville, SC, with a major in music. She graduated from Coker College in 1945. In 1942, Reinette met her future husband, Jack, a petty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, at a Christmas dinner for servicemen given by a Charleston family during the war. He had studied piano all his life and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with a major in piano before entering the service. Their interest in music drew them together, and"Boom!, It was fate. We were married three years later, leaving lots of time for piano duets," wrote Jack in his memoirs before his death in December 2001. The couple moved to Perth Amboy, NJ, Jack's hometown. Reinette obtained an MA-equivalent in elementary education from Newark State College, Newark for a Teaching Certificate. She taught in the Woodbridge Township, NJ, school system for 23 years while Jack taught music at Perth Amboy High School. Having previously traveled in the west and visited her sister's family at Kirtland Air Force Base, Reinette and Jack moved from NJ to Albuquerque, NM, in 1984 after retirement. A genuine extrovert, Reinette delighted in people of all ages and backgrounds. She became a docent at the Albuquerque Museum and for over a decade tackled the studies required to interpret to the public one blockbuster exhibit after another. She and Jack jokingly set themselves the goal of eating at every restaurant in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and darn near made it. She took advantage of New Mexico's diverse cultural heritage to meet folk artists and enjoy their company."Tough times don't last, tough people do," she would often say. She was one of life's docents. Reinette was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband of 56 years, John (Jack) Vincent Seaman. She is survived by sisters, Mary Lou Barlow of Aiken, SC and Joan Douglas of Albuquerque, NM; sons, Robert Wayne, Jonathan Michael, and Timothy John Seaman and wife, Glenna Dean; daughter, Anne Marie and husband, Chuck Sahyoun; and grandchildren, Ryan, Torey, and Devin Seaman and Jenna and Julie Sahyoun. Cremation was performed by McCormick and Son Mortuary, Laguna Hills, CA. Reinette and Jack's remains will be inurned at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest, CA. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made in Reinette's name to the Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM.
        Published on: Sun June 01, 2003