Marcia Oxford, well-known journalist, passed away Sunday. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Fox

Marcia Oxford was known as a "go-getter" journalist and was director of the Sutter Creek Visitor's Center. She was described as an enthusiastic worker, whose unique style, free-spirit and love for her friends, family and Amador County shined every day she lived.

Oxford passed away Oct. 11 at her home in Drytown.

"She loved Amador County and spent all the time she had here publicizing it. That was her main love," said Oxford's best friend Marilyn Anderson. Oxford was even known around the county for her personalized car license plate that read "CAMADOR."

"Everybody liked and knew her by that," Anderson said.

Before moving to Amador County, Oxford graduated high school in Baghdad, Iraq where her father worked as an instructor. She had also lived in Beirut, Lebanon and traveled around a lot. Following high school, Oxford's career in journalism took off when she went to school at the University of California, Berkeley, which sparked her interest in writing for radio news. Her outgoing, warm personality allowed her to land jobs working at a radio station in Chicago and two stations in Hawaii.

"She was an outstanding writer. There wasn't anything she couldn't write about," said Sutter Creek City Council member Pat Crosby, who knew Oxford and her husband for 30 years, since they first moved to the area. "She worked hard to bring (tourist) business to Amador County."

She and her late husband, popular Bay Area disc jockey "Jumpin'" George Oxford, eventually relocated to Amador County in 1976 , drawn in by the friendly people and small-town community.

Oxford began working for the River Valley Times newspaper in the Central Valley, where she was a reporter covering a variety of stories, including murders and weddings, for eight years. She eventually joined the staff at the Ledger Dispatch as the Foothills Life editor. Due to her experience working as the manager of the Amador County Chamber of Commerce, she eventually switched to writing business stories and developed her column for the newspaper-titled "Focus"-which is now continued by Ledger Dispatch writer, Lisa Lucke since Oxford's retirement.

"Marcia was a wise, passionate and caring woman," said Ledger Dispatch Editor Mayra Jimenez, who worked with Oxford for almost six years. "She was a great asset to the Ledger Dispatch and the community." The Focus column allowed Oxford to spotlight local businesses, people and charity work performed by the Amador County community.

"She was a wonderful woman, and the best friend anyone could ever have," Anderson said. She and Oxford had become fast friends while working together at the Amador County Chamber of Commerce. The two had even shared two trips to Paris in the late 1990s. Anderson still has a scrapbook Oxford made for her, complete with all of their pictures from Paris and captions to go along with them. "She wrote down everything that we did," Anderson added.

Oxford retired from her journalism career in June 2009, suffering from health problems. Oxford put in 32 years of working in Amador County and the Central Valley. As a dedicated, hard-working journalist, it was difficult for her to officially say good-bye to the field.

"It certainly wasn't easy, because I loved what I was doing so much," Oxford said in an article from the Ledger Dispatch in June.

Oxford will be greatly missed by her friends, family and colleagues who described her as a hard worker, very outgoing and "a great gal."