MARION HELEN LARBEY STOCK (1911-2003)

As a child, Marion H. Larbey lived in both New York and Illinois.  Her father, who was a painter and night watchman, often took her to libraries.  She recalled being enthralled and admiring the woman charging out her books—“what a wonderful thing to be doing.” 

Marion Larbey earned a BS in Library Science from the New York State College for Teachers in 1933.  After graduation she worked in a bookstore and then as a teacher on Long Island.  In 1941 she took her first job as a librarian at the Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, NY.

Later in 1941 she began substituting at NYPL, where she specialized in working with young adults.

In 1947 Larbey was promoted to be the Branch Librarian at Hunt’s Point, one of NYPL’s busiest branches, and she later headed both the Epiphany and St. George branches.  In 1956 she was promoted to be the Coordinator for all the Staten Island Branches. 

In 1948, Larbey married David M. Stock, a Staten Island journalist.

Marion Larbey Stock retired in 1961, and she and her husband moved to Falls Village CT.  For the next 40 years she was a volunteer at the Falls Village Historical Society.  Her other civic activities included volunteering at the library and the museum, functioning as the official town historian, and serving for 14 years on the Board of Education.

One of Marion Stock’s co-workers at the library and the historical society wrote me that Stock “was a very wise lady and accomplished a great deal for this town—all as a volunteer.”