Marcella Fugle

Marcella was born in Buffalo and grew up in East Arcade. Her father Charles Clark ran an egg hatchery and her mother Alice Griffen Clark taught in a one room school and was Marcella’s teacher for the first six grades. She went through the Arcade Central School System and then on to D’Youville College where she received her B.S. in Biology. The family was then living in Buffalo and her parents later moved to Hamburg. After graduation, Marcella worked as a medical technologist and married George Fugle, who later took over Clark’s Poultry & Fish Market after her father passed away. Their children are Mary E. who lives in NYC and works for the British Medical Journal and has a private pilates practice and John C. who lives in San Francisco and works as an architect for IPD. When her kids were in grade school, Marcella went to Canisius College and earned an M.A. in Education. She taught at Baker Victory High School for one year and then was hired at Hamburg. Marcella Fugle continued Junior High in 1964 when the building first opened. She taught General Science, Earth Science and later Biology. She became very involved with the Hamburg Teachers Association as a building representative, chief negotiator and later President. She was also active in New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and became a Director-at-Large. She also served on a variety of task forces and committees and received numerous awards from these organizations as well as the America Federation of Teachers. Marcella also represents teachers Coalition for Economic Justice, Rotary Club, ECMC Lifeline and many others. After 19 years in the classroom, Marcella became Director of the Southtown Teacher’s Center and stayed for 10 years before retiring. Always an avid gardener and reader, she remained active with the Retired Teachers of HTA as well as NYSUT, seeing herself as a political activist first and foremost.