Marion Fuller Archer, age 90, of Birmingham, AL died in peace on Saturday, September 1 in Birmingham. She is survived by 4 children: Marian (Polly) Archer (Larry Gaber) of Dublin, VA; Ruth Archer (Jim Helke) of Homewood, IL; Jane Archer of Birmingham, AL; and Ben Archer (Gale Barkus) of Pittsburgh, PA; 5 grandchildren: Diana & Daniel Archer, Caitlin, Seth & Ethan Archer-Helke; a step-granddaughter, Tiffany Frazier (Gregory); and 2 step-great-granddaughters, Mikaela & Joanna. She will be remembered with love and appreciation by countless readers and school children who grew up with her books in Wisconsin and throughout the country. She was born in Creswell, OR of pioneer stock on February 9, 1917. She earned her BA degree at the University of Oregon in French and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1938 and her MS in Library Science from Columbia University in 1941. She worked in libraries as a children's librarian and cataloger in Idaho, Oregon, Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, from which she retired as Professor Emeritus in 1975. She married Leonard B. Archer, Jr. on February 14, 1945 and shared a life of books and reading with him until his death in November 2003.

She was from a family of storytellers and was, in her words, "a chronic scribbler" from the age of 5, publishing her first story at the age of 7. When she and her husband moved their family from Vermont to Wisconsin in 1958, she began writing historical fiction about their new home to assuage the homesickness of her oldest daughters. She discovered her own roots in the Fox Valley of Wisconsin and wrote of the brave and colorful people of many cultures who settled Oshkosh in the immigrations of the 19th century. She taught her children the joys of research, the fascination of history, and the solace of a good story. None of her children will forget the sound of her typewriter as she flew at the keys to create novels, story collections, and the Wisconsin history that a generation of school children used as a text in their fourth grade classes. She was an accomplished pianist and taught her children a love of music. She taught children's literature at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, instilling in her students a respect for a genre that rears our children as surely as do the ABCs.

She founded the Golden Archer Award, now sponsored by the Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association, in 1973. Unlike other children's book awards, this is a student's choice award. It includes a Little Archer for the best picture book of the year.

She was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and taught her children to honor everyone in kindness, to see the light in every soul. She loved pansies; each of her children plants them every year. The family asks that you do the same in celebration of her life. Polly, Ruth and Ben would like to acknowledge their love and gratitude for Jane's grace and love in caring for our mother in the final years of her life as her power of words slipped away.

A memorial celebration of her life will be held at the Madison Friends Meeting House in Madison on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be sent to The Golden Archer Award, Sandy Heiden, WEMTA Treasurer, W4559 Kluge Road, Black Creek, WI 54106.