Marie Sandra Straub gently slipped away on May 10th, 2019. She departed this life just as she preferred to live it, beside her dedicated husband, surrounded by her loving children, amid her dearest lifelong friends.

Though born on August 11th, 1942, Marie did not start counting the years until her senior year of high school in 1961, when she met the man with whom she was destined to share the rest of her life. She and Joseph B. Straub, Sr. were engaged that very summer after graduation, and she married him, the love of her life, the following May. Marie soon became a military wife and mother, making possible Joseph�s successful twenty-four year career in the Navy. Side by side, Marie and Joseph embarked on their journey together. Marie managed a growing family through multiple moves, as she and Joseph wove the tapestry of their family legacy together, adding threads from myriad destinations in which they would reside spanning the globe. Ultimately settling in New York, Virginia, then Florida, they continued their life together in a manner reminiscent of characters only found in old love stories from eras long forgotten. Even after fifty-seven years of marriage, there was no place Marie would rather be than by Joseph�s side.

Secure in her relationship with the man she adored, Marie quietly set about constructing a legacy which will be a remembrance of her presence on this earth long after her passing. Never having known her own mother, Marie possessed a unique motherly love that existed free from the bonds of shared surnames or similar genetic lineage. Marie mothered any child lucky enough to cross her path who was willing to accept her love. Marie fostered many children and could always be persuaded to add just one more. Her empire consisted of not only the four children she carried herself, but also the many youngsters she and Joe fostered and/or adopted over the years. Marie and Joe were blessed with a house full of children, and in time this would grow to include visiting grandchildren, followed by great-grandchildren. She never turned away a soul and was never happier than when all of the beds in her home were full. A house bursting with life and love is what felt like home to Marie.

Her beloved children and cherished family, however, were not the only ones that peopled Marie�s empire. Making friends came easily to Marie and this talent could cross the chasm of decades separating her from those much younger than she. New neighbors easily became lasting friends, especially when they had children to be loved and enjoyed.

The art of friendship was a language that Marie spoke fluently. Especially adept at nurturing strong and lasting relationships, Marie had special lifelong friendships forged with a few amazing ladies, friendships of the best and closest kind. These friendships kept these ladies together despite relocations that ended up spanning the entirety of the eastern coast. Once one of these lifelong friends moved from New York to Virginia, the others soon followed. The distance from Virginia to Florida could not keep them apart. Marie and her closest friends ended up together again, calling the beautiful town of Fernandina Beach home. She shared her entire life with these women and loved them as the family they became. With more than daily phone calls, frequent dinner parties, and recurrent celebrations, their lives were fundamentally intertwined from her earliest years until she departed this life.

Marie has gone to patiently wait for her loving family and treasured friends in the arms of those who preceded her in death, her eldest son, Joseph B. Straub Jr., and best friend-in-law, Thomas J. Grady.

She is survived by her immensely loved, devoted, and doting husband Joesph B. Straub, Sr. of Fernandina Beach, Florida; their children, Mary E. Meyer of Spotsylvania, Virginia, Terry L. Smith of Bel Air, Maryland, Diane R. Straub (Joseph B. Straub Jr) of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Donald R. Straub (Cindy) of Caroline, Virginia, Stephen M. Straub (Jodi) of Maidens, Virginia, Christopher A. Straub (Anne Carey) of Bumpass, Virginia, and John C. Straub of Fernandina Beach, Florida; their many, many grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. Marie also leaves behind her brothers in law William J. Straub and his wonderful wife, Louise of Fernandina Beach, Florida and Al E. Straub and his wife Mary Jane of Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Additionally, Marie will greatly miss her former neighbors with whom she and Joe became good friends, T.J. and Kelley Rew along with their two children whom Marie greatly adored. And, for a time, she leaves behind those who comprised her very special group of lifelong friends, Linda Shook and her husband, Bob, of Fernandina Beach, Florida, and especially Vicki Grady, also of Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Marie made her wishes known for what was to become of her earthly remains. As such, a Memorial Service will be held to celebrate her life 5:00pm on June 15, 2019 at the Amelia Island Golf and Country Club in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Eventually, Marie�s remains will be entombed with her husband when he is returned home to her once more, leaving both her earthly and heavenly forms exactly where they are supposed to be, right beside her true love, her eternal partner, forever and ever. MTYLTT.