April 2017

Marion Lee Crosson Scullin of Damascus died on March 5 after a brief struggle with brain cancer. She was 74.

Born March 3, 1943 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to a family of huntsmen (father, grandfather, uncles and cousins), Marion’s future could be said to have been predetermined.  At the time she was born, Marion’s father, Albert “Pud” Crosson, was the huntsman for Rose Tree Foxhunting Club, moving to Huntington Valley Hounds, then Whitelands Hunt and concluding his career with Pickering Hunt where, in 1976, he “died in the hunting field of a heart attack after his hounds completed a splendid run, marking their fox to ground.” Now in the Huntsman Hall of Fame, Marion’s father was known for breeding a hard-running pack of deep-throated Penn-Marydels.

Marion received an undergraduate degree from West Chester University and a masters degree in education from Villanova University.  While her husband, Roger Scullin, attended veterinary school, Marion taught high school physical education, coaching numerous school sports teams.

Marion and Roger settled in Maryland in the early 1970s, where their daughters, Carter Lee and Carrie Lee, were born. They established a veterinary practice together, and began hunting with the Howard County Hunt Club. Soon they were both whipping-in, and by the late 1970s, as Roger began his career as a Master of Fox Hounds, Marion began hers as the backbone of the hunt club as keeper of the stud book, secretary and many other hats too numerous to list, while raising a family, taking care of the farm and helping to run the vet practice.

Shortly after the club merged to become the Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds, Marion suffered a life-threatening, rare and paralyzing illness known as Guillain-Barré. Making a remarkable recovery, the undaunted Marion was soon back in the saddle, whipping-in, whelping, walking and showing hounds, hosting club functions and tailgates, taking care of family and farm, and helping to develop and grow the Maryland Foxhound Club.  Meanwhile, over time one could note the influence of Huntsman Crosson, as the HC-IB Hounds developed a deep and melodic section in the choir.

Although she hung up her spurs in 2009, nothing could keep Marion away from hounds and hunting, and soon she and her daughter Carter founded the Hill & Hollow Bassets, serving as Joint Masters and sharing the duties as huntsmen, continuing to follow on foot a new but still deep and melodic chorus.   

Marion’s sporting loves were not restricted to the field, as their many guests aboard their Sea Ray, Out To Pasture, can attest. And while Marion loved the Chesapeake Bay and was a member of the Chesapeake Yacht Club, she also loved the sea, and she, Roger and the Out To Pasture roamed the ocean waters from Maine to the Bahamas. Or at least they did until their grandson, Dillon Lee, was born; for these last few years, Dillon was Marion’s light, bringing much joy to her and her extended family.