Louisa M. Marchetti

Louisa M Marchetti, 85, of Lancaster PA died on Thursday December 17, 2025 at Lancaster General Hospital. Born at LGH, she was the daughter of the late Harold Hess Messner and Emma Wise Charles Messner and the loving wife of Peter E Marchetti of Lancaster. Louisa grew up in Strasburg and Lancaster and graduated from Manheim Township High School before receiving her AB in German Language and Literature from Brown University (Pembroke College) in 1962. She continued her studies at Brown, receiving an AM in German Language and Literature and completing the coursework required for a PhD. While studying for her Masters, Louisa spent a year at the University of Kiel in Kiel, Germany. Louisa began her career teaching German at Southeastern Massachusetts University (SMU) in New Bedford MA (now UMass Dartmouth) before returning to Lancaster and changing direction. She initially worked as a tour guide showing bus tours of visitors around Lancaster County while studying to become a licensed real estate agent. She later went on to be Women’s Services Director and Volunteer Coordinator for the YWCA Lancaster before spending many years working in client management for Braverman Financial Services. In retirement, she enjoyed conducting surveys for F&M’s Center for Opinion Research and again meeting visitors to Lancaster County while working part-time in the gift shop at the former Host Resort. Outside of work, Louisa was an accomplished classical pianist and enjoyed genealogy, collecting and dealing antiques and collectibles, reading extensively, and solving puzzles. In recent years, she pursued her dedication to life-long learning via MOOCs such as Coursera and EdX, as well as PBS programs and Great Courses. A member of First Reformed UCC, Lancaster, during the first part of her life, she was the first woman member of its Consistory (governing body), and she went on to become the church’s first female Congregation President, during which time she was instrumental in the church’s decision to sponsor a refugee family for resettlement in the mid-1980s. She also was a member of the Senior Choir and Alto soloist for the main Christmas Service from the late 1970s to early 1990s. Active in community affairs in the 1970s and 1980s, she served on the board of the Mental Health Association of Lancaster and was an active volunteer for several years for United Way of Lancaster County and WITF. Louisa is survived by her husband of 57 years and their daughter Margaret, as well as by numerous cousins from both sides of her family. Service and committal will be held graveside, on what would have been her 86th birthday, at Strasburg Mennonite Cemetery (Route 741 Village Road) on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 2 pm, followed by a reception at the house.