Resident of Santa Cruz

Born in 1931 in Pasadena, California to a large and unconventional Scandinavian family, Marcia Elizabeth Mc- Dougal (nee Johnson) never let convention define who she was. Her mother, Thyra Johnson (nee Kristensen), was the youngest of seven sisters, including Helga, the wife and muse of Ejnar Hansen, the noted Southern California painter. Growing up in the 1930s and ‘40s in aLos Angeles redolent of art, heat, oranges, and Hollywood, Marcia absorbed a particular mixture of colorful style and optimistic self-reliance that became her hallmark.

In the early 1950s, she moved to Berkeley, married and had Stephanie and Kristen Raugust. She continued to be unconventional, working at the iconic store Frasers, and in 1956, helped start the Chimney Potters in an old doll factory on 4th Street, where she met Bruce McDougal.

After along year of letters while Bruce taught in Iowa, they married in 1962 and in 1963 moved back to Berkeley, where they had Heather McDougal. Marcia developed a successful jewelry business, selling earrings and strung beads, long before “love beads” existed.

In 1967, the couple rented an old ranch north of Davenport from Bud and Lud McCrary, where they started Big Creek Pottery, one of the first summer crafts schools in the US. Over the next twenty years, she and Bruce hosted over 1000 students in workshops, often featuring famous potters from around the world.

In the mid-1970s, Marcia and Bruce bought the site of the ruined Davenport Cash Store in Davenport. By scraping their belongings together as capital, they rebuilt it, hoping to create a place where artists could live and sell their work. The local restaurant burned down, so Marcia had the idea to serve coffee and donuts to locals…then chili, and clam chowder, and homemade bread... And thus, local icon The New Davenport Cash Store was born. Soon Whale City Bakery Bar and Grill followed, with their son Kristen at the helm.

Marcia’s warmth and generosity created an ambiance of acceptance and hope wherever she was, and with Bruce’s capable and exacting help, she was always able to create “something out of nothing:” places of beauty and comfort. She passed away in her home on September 6th, 2024, surrounded by family. She was 93 years old. A memorial is planned for mid-April this year.