'110% Marnie.' Actress Marnie Schulenburg to be remembered with walk, bench on Cape Cod

The world may remember actress Marnie Schulenburg for 15 years of performances from Shakespeare to soap operas, but friends and family recall her as a Cape Codder whose go-to place was Millway Beach.

“Marnie grew up within walking distance so we would walk to the beach and stop at the store to get penny candy with change we found in the couch,” said Tirrill Black, who said she and Schulenburg were best friends since they were toddlers and attended Barnstable High together. “Later, we both used to work at Mattakeese Wharf right next to Millway so sometimes after work we would go down for a dip before going out with friends.”

Zack Robidas said he teased Schulenburg when they were dating about how the Cape Cod Bay beach had puny little waves, but the “tame waters” were welcome when they brought their daughter Coda, now 3 ½, to play at her mom’s favorite spot.

Schulenburg died one year ago ― on May 17, 2022 ― at age 37 of metastatic breast cancer, which she said was misdiagnosed as a new mother's benign mastitis. She graduated from Barnstable High School in 2002.

Friends and family are giving Schulenburg a final and permanent place at Millway Beach, with a bench in her honor, and on May 20 the first “Marnie’s March to Millway'' to raise money to support breast cancer research and  Cape Cod theater and music through the Cape Cod Foundation.

The public event is from 2 to 5:30 p.m., kicking off from Warren Hall at Barnstable Unitarian Church, corner of Route 6A and Phinney’s Lane in Barnstable Village. Tickets, at $20, and $25 pink t-shirts are available at  http://www.marniesarmy.org/. There is a virtual walk for those who cannot attend. After walking a half-mile to the beach, the group will sing two of Schulenburg's favorite songs ― "Take These WIngs" and "Dona Nobis Pacem" ― before returning to the church hall for pizza.

“This is a celebration of the life of my daughter,” said John Schulenburg. “The common theme is we really had to find a theme to celebrate the kind of woman she was.”

Schulenburg sought to spread awareness after a misdiagnosis of her breast cancer.

Her lifelong friend Black said Schulenburg tried to spread awareness by speaking out for patient self-advocacy and the right to second opinions after having her breast cancer with inflammation misdiagnosed as a new mother’s benign mastitis.

“Throughout her entire fight with cancer, she wanted to keep telling her story. She wanted women to check their breasts and to speak out when they knew something wasn’t right.”

Robidas said he saw his wife’s kindness and love for people around her every day.

“There are all those good little tidbits you accumulate in your time together,” he said. “One story I enjoy telling about her spirit is how on her last day of filming on Showtime’s ‘City on a Hill,’ I woke up to like $150 of fancy doughnuts in the kitchen. It was the last show she ever did and she wanted to thank the makeup people and others who helped her deal with the cancer.”

Robidas said his wife’s nickname was “110% Marnie.”

“If you asked her to do something she’d do it to the best of her ability, with all of herself,” Robidas, also an actor, said of his wife with whom he often collaborated.

In spreading the word about the May 20 fundraising walk, family friend Joshua Koopman wrote, “Marnie is largely responsible for the path I have walked in life. Specifically, I left the Army to pursue acting after being inspired by her unwavering bravery and determination to follow her dream.”

A New Jersey resident, Robidas and his daughter will travel to Cape Cod for the May 20 service and walk. He said he doesn’t know who, if anyone, from the public will attend, but he hopes everyone will feel welcome.

Remember your husband, remember your parents, he said. “This is to celebrate anyone who you’ve lost.”

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod actress Marnie Schulenburg advocated for patient rights