10/06/2026
Marya served on the Executive Board of the Friends of Fakahatchee for many years and became a good friend to many. Her knowledge of the history of the Fakahatchee and surrounding areas, and especially her friendship, will be sorely missed.
Everglades Area mourns the passing of Marya Repko, our local historian.
On October 1, Marya Repko, Everglades historian and author, passed away in Naples after a long illness.
This is a photo of Marya sitting outside her apartment in Everglades City and holding the plaque she had received from the Friends of Fakahatchee:
"Excellence Award – Marya Repko – With profound gratitude for your exceptional work ethic and unwavering dedication in managing the Friends membership program since 2003. March 2025"
I met Marya when both of us became active in the Friends of the Museum of the Everglades in the early 2000s and worked together in purchasing and promoting the Storter Collection. We continued our partnership with co-editing The Mullet Rapper. I could not have done it without her. She was responsible for creating the layout and contributed articles. We were emailing each other every day, many times all day long.
What many people don't know is how many non-profit organizations she was involved with in this area: in addition to the Museum, she was active with the Friends of Fakahatchee, and a founding member of our Everglades Society for Historic Preservation - Marya like to work behind the scenes from her apartment, spending hours every day at her computer, researching and gathering information for various groups – the Everglades Community Church, ReachOut, and many others. Marya had her own publishing company – ECity Publishing – she was prolific in writing about our history, our people. She organized events including Art-in-the-Glades, music festivals for our fundraisers. She wrote books for children so they could learn about their history, even publishing some in Spanish.
Our Everglades community has been forever changed because of her adopting our little town 26 years ago. She gave unselfishly to others. She loved history and left us countless books that will be a part of us forever. She loved to swim in the pool in her condominium, she loved to read on her porch. She didn't own a TV. She told me she moved here because she loved our secluded quiet friendly town which reminded her of where she grew up in Hadlyme, CT, a small historic town between Haddam and Lyme.
The City of Everglades presented Marya with a plaque of Appreciation for all her services to our community on June 3, 2025. ESHP has dedicated a special room in the Bank of Everglades building to honor her. When completed, tourists and residents will be able to visit The Marya Repko Historical Library."
She was my friend and, along with so many others, I will miss her.
Patty Huff
