“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” goes the chorus of John Lennon’s hit, “Imagine.” Margaret “Marge” Webb, who passed away at age 91 on June 16, 2022, often hummed that tune reflecting on the folk masses her late cousin, Father Francis Markey, helped organize in Santa Cruz in the 1960s and ’70s to appeal to the free spirits flocking to the Bay Area.
It was a bit of a subversive choice for liturgical music, but Marge, a retired nun, told Santa Clara University in 2019 that it made sense for Fr. Markey, who was energized by Vatican II and believed deeply in moving the Catholic Church into modernity.
“He was so exciting. God had gifted him not only with a great mind, but also the gift of vision. He could take a dream and put it into action,” Marge said. In addition to presiding as pastor of several churches in and around Santa Cruz and writing for a local newspaper, Fr. Markey strongly advocated for the inclusion of women in Church hierarchy in his writings and by involving them in leadership roles in his various parishes. “He always thought that a woman’s voice has a right to be part of the governance of the Church,” Marge said.
It’s a torch Marge picked up after her cousin died in 1999 and she was designated the executor of his trusts. Among her many gifts, Marge chose a donor designated fund to establish the Rev. Francis L. Markey Women in Ministry fellowship that provides financial assistance to women enrolled in Santa Clara University’s Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries.
Having a diversity of voices—young, female, of color—in the Church, Marge said, would be a “powerful revival” of parish life at a time when fewer people are attending Mass and nurturing their spirituality. “It’s not just Santa Clara students who will be helped. It’s all the people they help, too.”
Though neither attended Santa Clara University, Marge noted that she and Fr. Markey had long admired the Jesuits for their commitment to education and involvement in their local communities. Like her cousin, she said, the Jesuits are dreamers who make a real difference in the world. “They’re not afraid to express their vision.”
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