CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Carmichael’s Marie Segur claims she was only ever gainfully employed for a few weeks of her long life. “I’ve been fully occupied as a mother and a volunteer ever since,” she says. Segur, 83, is one of that dwindling generation of women who married, raised children and spent every waking moment thereafter doing good work in the community.

During a recent spring luncheon fundraiser, fellow members of the Carmichael Presbyterian Church named their stalwart “Queen for a Day.”

Arriving in Carmichael in 1961, Kansas-born Segur and husband David found a second home in the Marconi Avenue congregation. Together they were active in many areas of church life. On the long road to becoming grandmother to 17 and great-grandmother to nine, Marie Segur served multiple terms as a church deacon and elder. She also works with other denominations and churches and, according to church deacon and elder Lisa Benadom, “Marie has touched many, many lives. I’ve learned that whenever there is a question in our church, the answer is: ‘Ask Marie.’ We all owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude.”

The congregation’s Queen for a day spent the rest of her reign making announcements, awarding raffle prizes and tidying up after the fundraiser.

“I serve the Lord,” she explained. “And I’m blessed and grateful to serve my church in any way I can.”