Lifetime Achievement Award
Marianne Kreter, ASID
2011 ASID OCC Liftime Achievment Award Recipient
Marianne was a beautiful Canadian baby, born in Port Arthur, Ontario. She and her younger sister, named Sue, grew up in Canada. At age 6, her family relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. When she was 9 she decided she wanted to be a figure skater. Her Father, a frustrated hockey player, encouraged her love for the sport by providing her with private lessons from a world class coach. She worked very hard and became very accomplished on figures, jumps and spins. She skated in the Canadian Championships placing seventh. Lessons and costumes were so expensive that her parents decided they were too costly to continue competition. At age 18 Marianne became the youngest skating coach at the Victoria Figure Skating Club. Unsurprisingly, she lied about her age to get the job. She loved coaching and learned so much about teaching and mentoring.
After coaching for a year in Victoria she decided to go to the United States and applied at three different skating clubs. The Rochester Figure Skating Club in Rochester, Minnesota was the first to offer her a coaching position and she accepted their offer. She was doubly excited because she knew she was going to be at the home of the Mayo Clinic and was in hopes of meeting a doctor.
Lee who was home in Rochester for the holidays from college introduced himself to Marianne at the skating rink. They began to date and soon married. Marianne married a MD, a music doctor. Lee graduated from the Cornell University Graduate School of Music in Ithaca, New York. Marianne taught private skating lessons and coached in the physical education program at Cornell University. It was there that their boys, Bruce and Todd were born. After completing his doctorate, Lee accepted a job in Wichita, Kansas teaching music at Wichita State University. During their time in Wichita, their daughter, Tenley, was born.
After 5 years at Wichita, Lee accepted a position as a professor of music at California State University, Fullerton. Marianne accepted a staff position at California State University, Fullerton. She took on many challenging jobs and received the Titan Excellence Award for Outstanding Staff. While working at Fullerton she completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management from the University of Redlands.
If you know Marianne, you know she can’t sit still and after years working in academia, she wanted to have her own business. She began investigating careers in real estate, financial planning and interior design. Her creative urge won and she began taking classes in interior design at Orange Coast College. Upon completion of her courses in 1988 she started her very successful Interior Design practice.
In addition to interior design, Marianne and Lee have a very active family life with eight grandchildren in Orange County and in Pennsylvania. Marianne hung up her skates and began playing a lot of tennis, which has been a huge part of their families’ lives. They have been members of the Newport Beach Tennis Club for the past 35 years. Marianne’s aesthetic sense isn’t limited to interior design. She serves on the Bluffs Homeowner Association Landscape Committee and has become knowledgeable about horticulture and landscape design.
Marianne’s accomplishments in interior design are numerous. In 1990, along with Sally Ketterer, she formed a professional group, named the Designer IV. They began the group with designer acquaintances from local showrooms who were design professionals and all had similar business practices. This group is still in existence and is now headed up by Dianne Sparacino.
In 2002 Marianne became a credentialed interior designer. First, she passed the CQRID exam and was given status as a Professional Member of the Interior Design Society. A few months later she passed the CCRE exam and became a Certified Interior Designer and in the fall, she passed the California Licensed General Contractor exam. In 2003 she was characteristically very prepared and passed the NCIDQ exam and became a Professional Member of ASID. In 2008 she received a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Interior Designers Institute.
Marianne has been an active member of ASID since 1996. She has served on numerous committees including Nominating, Ways and Means, Trade Show, Philharmonic House of Design, Presidential Citation, Outstanding Member of the Year, and Strategic Planning committees. Marianne has chaired many committees including Programs and Professional Development, 2004 Philharmonic House of Design, Ways and Means Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Nominating Committee, Gala Committee and Trade Show Committee. She served on the ASID Board of Directors as Secretary, Membership Director, Program Director, President Elect, and was elected President for the 2005-2006 term. Marianne has encouraged many students to advance themselves in their studies of interior design and to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible. In her keynote speech at the 2008 Interior Designers Institute graduation she encouraged each graduate to become professional members of ASID by taking and passing the NCIDQ exam. She also shares her interior design knowledge with students at ASID Student Career Days.
Marianne has earned many awards and honors in her career including the ASID Most Valuable Member Award in 2001-2002, the ASID Presidential Citation in 2005-2006 and the Interior Designer’s Institute Excellence in Design award in 2008. Her designs received gold and platinum awards from ASID and the Orange County Home Magazine.
Marianne has always been an optimist about life and has always been enthusiastic about good design, especially contemporary. She loves working as a team, sharing and creating new ideas. She enjoys working with people in the design community and treasures her experiences and friendships with ASID members and the opportunity to serve in leadership roles. She rightfully holds the title of the cheerleader for our Chapter and all of its members.
Marianne has devoted many years to our ASID Orange County Chapter and has been a major contributor to our growth and success. She is a huge part of what ASID Orange County is today and for this alone we truly thank her.
It is with great honor for the Orange County Chapter of ASID to present this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Marianne Kreter, ASID.
Past Liftime Achievment Award Recipients
2010 – Elizabeth Tamaribuchi, ASID
2009 – Karen Ziccardi, ASID
2008 – Jason Titus, ASID
2007 – Elaine Redfield, ASID
