Marion E. K. Hood (Kate or Kathy), 72, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died Tuesday, December 15, at Moravian Hall Square in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She had been a resident there for five years before succumbing to her Alzheimer's related conditions.
She was born in Greenville, South Carolina on April 19, 1948. She was the daughter of the late Jennie Louise and Samuel Willis Hood. She graduated from Greenville High School. Her interest in human thought and human behavior led to a degree in philosophy from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Temple University. She worked as an associate professor of Psychology in the Department of Health and Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University, from which she retired in 2013. She was affiliated with the Center for Developmental Science at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She studied a selective strain of mice which provided insights into the role of aggression in human behavior. Throughout her life she valued an intuitive bond with the animal world, surrounding herself with horses, dogs, cats and her colony of research mice. A fierce advocate for social justice, she did community activist work in Philadelphia with The Rights of Women, Pennsylvania NOW, and the Living Theater. At Penn State she was an active advocate for social justice within the Women's Studies program.
She is survived by her husband of 28 years, John Howell White; her sisters Patricia (Eddie) McNeill of Raeford, and Sandra Woodfield, and Becky (Tim) Jacobs; and her brother, Bill (Rese) Hood.
A remembrance ceremony will be held via Zoom on January 9, 2021.
In lieu of flowers, charitable gifts may be given to Morningstar Living Foundation, 175 W. North Street, Nazareth, PA 18064