Educator

Marion L. Quenneville

Teacher and coach at Dondero High School, 1956-1977

Teacher at Pembroke College, YWCA, and Clara Barton Junior High School

Competitive synchronized swimmer

Honored by Red Cross for 50 years of volunteer activities

Inducted into Royal Oak High School Hall of Fame, 2001

Marion L. Quenneville is a native of the New England area. She graduated from Boston University and served as a college and YWCA instructor before joining the Dondero faculty in 1956. She retired from Dondero in 1977 with the highest respect of her students and colleagues.

Marion Quenneville provided instruction and leadership in the area of physical education, and she worked special magic in the pool. For many years her synchronized swim shows were one of the highlights of the school year. The shows ran for several evenings and always had a theatrical theme. The program might be set to nursery rhymes, Broadway shows, movies, TV themes or the Story of the Wheel from Cave Dweller to Motown. One year the theme was Anything Goes which provided opportunities for an Alice in Wonderland, Grecian Goddesses, Martians, matadors, Gypsies, witches and can-can dancers all in one show. These themes enabled the students to create scripts and comic routines, select music, plan elaborate swimming and diving displays and design elaborate costumes which would always end up getting wet. A cast of 40 students was not uncommon and they included both male and female performers. Several of her synchronized swimming graduates performed professionally after high school. Mrs. Quenneville also sponsored the Girl's Athletic Association at Dondero, coached the girl's speed swimming teams and was one of the faculty members who helped the district implement the Title IX provisions.

Marion Quenneville served 20 years on the Board of Directors of the Oakland YWCA and was featured in a newspaper article when, at the age of 60, she swam over 400 laps of the Kimball pool to earn funds for the Y's projects. The American Red Cross presented her with an award for her fifty years of volunteer activities as a water safety instructor. One can see why Dondero students were encouraged to go forth and serve when they have role models like Marion Quenneville. She was inducted into the Royal Oak High School Hall of Fame in 2001.