Losing Marsha
Marsha Chartrand, founder, board member, and co-editor of the Manchester Mirror, April 2026. Photo by Fritz Swanson.
by Sara Swanson
I am sad to announce the passing of Marsha Chartrand, a founder of the Manchester Mirror, my co-editor, and my friend.
The paper would not have gotten off the ground without her involvement, and we will miss her knowledge of decades of Manchester history, newspaper industry experience, and moral compass. Although she had gradually cut back on the day to day work she was doing for the Mirror as her health got worse, she stayed involved almost up to the end, looking over the layouts before they were sent to the printer and giving them the thumbs up from her hospital bed.
Losing Marsha is a huge blow to the Mirror. And what is truly hard to wrap my head around is that the Mirror is just one of the institutions she was involved with feeling this loss. Marsha was a current City Council member who had served on the Village council before that. She was also very active in her church, Clinton UCC. On top of the organizations she stayed active with after she began to get ill, there were many more she was active with just a few years ago.
I’m grieving the loss of my friend, but she had so many friends. There are so many people out there also feeling what I’m feeling. And of course none of this can compare to what her family is feeling.
As much as Marsha’s passing is my loss and the Mirror’s loss, it helps me to know that these are just a small percentage of the loss, and my grief which feels huge and overwhelming is just a small percentage of the grief being felt right now.
Marsha was smart, educated, talented, community-minded, and strong-willed. She took every opportunity that arose to participate and give back to Manchester. She was politically active and fought for justice. She had deep faith and cared deeply about veterans’ issues. She loved her family. She was compassionate and wry. She was creative and curious and always learning.
The Manchester Mirror will continue without her but it is what it is today because it stands on a foundation that Marsha helped build. She will be deeply missed.
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