Marla Jean Fisk, 53, formerly of Alton, died Saturday, November 13, 2021, at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA.
Born November 24, 1967, in Alton, she was the daughter of Marilyn (Steiling) Calame of Alton and the late Lewis E. Calame. She served as a linguist in the U.S. Army and learned the Persian language of Farsi at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., where she first fell in love with the area she eventually called home. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business and corporate communication at Georgia Southern University. Marla was an accomplished media sales professional, serving as Senior Account Manager over digital advertising for hospitals and health care providers nationally in the West Coast region for PatientPoint. Previous posts in Nashville included manager positions at AT&T, The Tennessean/Gannett, Nashville Post, Nashville City Paper, the Nashville Business Journal, and the Nashville Scene.
Marla never met a stranger, nor passed on an opportunity to have fun. Her many friends and family know her big smile, her even bigger laugh, and her even bigger-than-that heart. She enjoyed a great meal, drinks with bubbles, rescuing stray dogs and cats, the pounding surf and spectacular vistas of Highway 1 and Northern California, and traveling the globe with the love of her life, husband Keith Fisk, who somehow managed to keep her and everything else on the rails.
Along with her mother, Marilyn, and her husband, Keith, Marla is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Lisa and David Marshall of Godfrey; niece Sydney Marshall of Godfrey, who she adored; and her mother-in-law, Diane Nipper of Nashville.
Besides her father, she was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Harvey and Bernice Calame, and maternal grandparents, Earl and Opal Steiling.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of funeral service at noon Tuesday, November 23, 2021, at Gent Funeral Home in Alton. Burial will be at Valhalla Memorial Park in Godfrey. The Rev. Daymond Talkington will officiate. Memorials may be made to the Alton Area Animal Aid Association’s 5A's Animal Shelter, 4530 N. Alby St, Alton, IL 62002. Online guestbook and information may be found at www.gentfuneralhome.com
