Maralynne Denise Mitcham

Maralynne D. Mitcham, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA , the esteemed professor, mentor, colleague, and friend of many in the Charleston area and throughout the world, died Friday morning, October 17, 2014 at her home in Charleston. Relatives and friends of Dr. Mitcham are invited to attend a Requiem Mass and celebration of her life at 11 A.M. Saturday, October 25, 2014 at The Church of the Holy Communion, 218 Ashley Avenue, Charleston. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR INC., WEST ASHLEY CHAPEL, 3360 Glenn McConnell Parkway.

Maralynne was born on December 13, 1949 in London, England, the daughter of Albert Thomas Jones and Vera Ruth Eva Aggio Jones both of whom predeceased her.

She began school in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, and then attended Bournemouth School for Girls. Maralynne graduated from Saint Andrew's School of Occupational Therapy, Northampton, UK, received her BS and Masters in Health Education in Occupational Therapy from the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA and her Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

Dr. Mitcham spent several years on faculty at the Medical College of Georgia followed by 30 years at the Medical University of South Carolina. Maralynne joined MUSC in 1984 as a tenured faculty member and Chair of the Occupational Therapy Department. Over the years of her service to the Medical University she served as Chair of a variety of departments, Assistant Dean of the College of Health Professions twice, Assistant Dean for Research, Chair of the Department of Health Professions, as well as serving on more than forty-five university committees, either as Chair or committee member. Her understanding of the history of the College of Health Professions, the College of Graduate Studies, and the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry were invaluable when working on strategic plans or planning for future growth.

In the 43 years of her professional work, she became a national and international educator/lecturer/consultant in her profession. Her expertise in teaching, instructional design, curriculum development, evaluation, and mentoring have been recognized around the world. Some of the international places she taught or consulted are Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada; University of Southern Australia; University of Sidney; and the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, S. Africa. In the United States, she taught many workshops for faculty in Occupational Therapy Programs and served as senior consultant for the Center for Occupational Therapy Education, Colorado State University. Dr. Mitcham served on the Board of Directors of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation where she designed and delivered a series of faculty development workshops for new OT faculty members. Following a year as President of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, she was awarded Honorary Life Membership for her many contributions to the profession.

Dr. Mitcham believed so strongly in Occupational Therapy students and faculty having the benefit of national and international speakers in their field, that she founded the Maralynne D. Mitcham Lectureship at MUSC. This lectureship provides, in perpetuity, a day for Occupational Therapy education with outstanding speakers on current or future trends in Occupational Therapy, a luncheon for returning MUSC-OT alumni, and an afternoon series of workshops. The awards she has earned are too numerous to list. Of special note are the many MUSC teaching awards and a prestigious award by the American Occupational Therapy Association, the Eleanor Clark Slagle Lectureship. She presented the Slagle Lecture in Baltimore, MD in April, 2014 titled "Education as Engine". Her lecture will be published in the December issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Dr. Mitcham was a truly talented teacher, a mentor and role model for students and academic faculty. In the classroom she used intellectual creativity to stimulate students to think, learn, and problem solve. As many of her students have become teachers and researchers, the foundations taught by Dr. Mitcham have crossed multigenerational levels of Occupational Therapists throughout the world. Distance learning was in its infancy when the concept was used by Dr. Mitcham to bring classes together between Charleston, Halifax, N.S., and other parts of the world. She was truly an educational pioneer.
Maralynne never failed to stop for her tea at 3 p.m., whether in her office or at home, a custom from the homeland that she never gave up. You could always count on that "cuppa" being ready if you stopped by for a visit.Dr. Mitcham supported religious, cultural, and artistic events in the city of Charleston and was often seen at Art Walks, local theatre plays, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and the Charleston Concert Association. At various times in her life she sang in church choirs and danced with Highland Dancers. Maralynne loved life and fashion and always had a smile on her face.

Maralynne creatively wrote updates on her medical condition, documenting the progress of the various clinical trials she entered, by writing a "Pirate's Newsletter". Her ready wit kept us all apprised on the latest medications and treatments for ocular melanoma while she courageously and fearlessly completed one clinical trial after another, always pushing the boundaries of what could become a cure for this disease. With her husband by her side, they traveled to Duke University in Durham, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia as well as the Levine Cancer Center in Charlotte and Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston. Takami Sato, MD, PhD, and David Eschelman, MD and staff were her ocular melanoma team at Jefferson and Keisuke Shirai, MD and his staff of Hollings Cancer Center gave her personalized and specialized care and expertise for which she was always grateful.
Although she never wanted to be defined by the cancer she battled, throughout her journey Maralynne showed integrity, strength of character, incredible courage, faith, and grace.

During a life that was far too short, Maralynne became a friend to thousands. She had an uncanny ability to make every friend feel special through cards, remembrances, tokens of appreciation, and the gift of her time. In her Slagle journal article Maralynne commented "when you begin in gratitude and try to live in gratitude, you are ever mindful of all that abounds in your life". As the family, friends, professional colleagues, and students of Dr. Maralynne Mitcham are filled with grief over our loss of this extraordinary woman, we are also filled with gratitude that sharing a moment in time with her has made us more mindful of all that abounds in our lives.

She leaves behind her husband, R.C. (Chris) Brumfield. Additional family includes: Robert Dean Brumfield (Christy), Alissa, Caleb, Riley, Brittany, Anna; John Patrick Brumfield; Clyde Milton Brumfield, Jessie, Elliot, Adam (Amber), Regan; Grahame Jones; John Barr; Robert Kerr; Ruth Kupritz; Sheena Deltour and many friends across this country and in Australia, Canada, Republic of South Africa and the United Kingdom.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to: The MUSC Foundation for the Maralynne D. Mitcham Lectureship (CHP) Fund, 18 Bee Street, MSC 450, Charleston, South Carolina, 29425-4500 or The Church of the Holy Communion, 218 Ashley Ave, Charleston, South Carolina, 29403