Dr. Margaret Lee Fonda

b. Cleveland, OH; 1950 US Federal Census, Alexandria, Alexandria Co., VA (Margrette Fonda, b. 1943, OH, Daughter, Albert, Jean); res. Corydon, IN; d. Louisville, KY; bur. Cremated. Specifically: Body donated to University of Louisville Medical Science >> www.fonda.org <<

[Dr. Margaret Lee Fonda passed away at the age of 82 at Treyton Oak Towers, Louisville, Kentucky, on July 25, 2024. She was born July 13, 1942, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Albert and Jean Loweth Fonda. Margaret grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and attended Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She transferred to the University of Delaware and received a BS degree in chemistry in 1965. She continued her education at the University of Tennessee and completed her PhD in biochemistry in 1968. After post-doctoral studies at Iowa State University, Margaret began her career at the University of Louisville Medical School in 1970. Margaret was a pioneer among women of her generation, teaching biochemistry at a medical school at age 28. She not only was one of the few women teaching, she also was younger than many of her students, who predominantly were male. Margaret married Dr. George Herbener in 1976. They retired together from University of Louisville Medical School in 1995, and began a grand adventure of world travel. They were docents at the Louisville Zoo for decades, and also volunteered for the Nature Conservancy. They both were prize-winning photographers, recording their travels, nature, and the animals they encountered during their many outdoor adventures. They tended a very large vegetable and fruit garden at their home in Corydon, Indiana, and generously shared the fruits of their labor. Margaret was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, George (2020); and her brother-in-law, Curtis Marsh (2001). She is survived by five stepchildren: Marc Herbener (Donna), Peter (Pat) Herbener Amy (Jim) Herbener, Carolyn (Mark) Busin, and Elizabeth Mansfield, and seven step-grandchildren. She also is survived by her sister, Dorothy Marsh, and nephews Curtis (Rochelle) Marsh, and Ted (Jennifer) Marsh, and niece Heather (Brad) Lewis, and seven grand nieces and nephews. Margaret dearly loved her family and demonstrated it daily with her sweet, gentle, kind, and generous spirit. At her request, Margaret’s body has been donated to science at the University of Louisville Medical School. A memorial service for Margaret and George will be held at Treyton Oak Towers, 211 W Oak St., Louisville, KY, on September 16, at 2 p.m. Memorials may be given in her honor to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Nature Conservancy.]