Marianne Acree, nee Flanagan, died on January 6, 2024 at her home in Point Pleasant, NJ, not quite a month shy of her 84th birthday. Marianne was born in Long Branch and grew up in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. Hailing from a long line of smart, tough women, if Marianne didn't want to do something, she wasn't going to do it, there was no way anyone was going to make her do it, and that was that. She was late just about everywhere she went, did math in her head, had a tendency to collect strays (both cats and people). She enjoyed a good cup of coffee and a cigarette, a hot dog with sauerkraut and mustard, a jelly donut. She could be counted on for both sensible advice and a wicked sense of humor. She had an eye for fashion and loved a bargain. She was also a lifelong news junkie who didn't shy from healthy debate about ideas and events, an inveterate observer of human behavior whose wheels were always turning.

Marianne was widowed young when her husband and the love of her life, Don Acree Sr., died in 1975. She raised their three children on her own, which was no mean feat. In later years, she returned to the workforce, putting her not inconsiderable smarts to work for a small business, during which time she made close and enduring friendships. On retiring, she enjoyed the hell out of her cats and her grandkids, lavishing them with love and affection equally in turn.

In addition to her husband, Marianne is predeceased by her brother, Robert Flanagan, and her eldest daughter, Michele Ann Acree Damiano, as well as a host of feline familiars and one very special Rottweiler (included here because she felt that animals count as family, too). She is survived by her youngest daughter, Maureen Acree, a son, Donald Acree Jr., and two granddaughters, Lyla Damiano and Kylee Damiano. Burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Middletown, NJ will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Catsbury Park (https://catsburypark.com/donate/) or the ACLU (https://action.aclu.org/give/now?redirect=node/65102)