Born and reared in Bardstown, Kentucky, Marie Lerner-Sexton grew up surrounded by
the music of Stephen Foster, and at home, by the masters of European orchestral
literature that her father loved so well. But it would be choral music that drew her to a
career. After completing an A.B. in music from Washington University, St. Louis, she
came to Kansas to study at KU in 1968. Her teaching career began in the fall of 1970
at Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park. There she taught choral
music, music appreciation and music theory. In 1993, she continued the same
curriculum at Olathe South High School, retiring from the classroom in 2001. That fall,
she opened a private voice studio, and as of 2020 completed 50 years of teaching
music in Kansas. Marie served as a KMEA district choral chairperson several times,
as a board member of KCDA for many years, and as a writer and grader of the
Advanced Placement Music Theory exam. She edited the KCDA state newsletter for
six years. In 2003, she was awarded the KCDA Harry Robert Wilson Award. She
sang with the Choral Arts Ensemble of KC, the KC Symphony Chorus, and the
Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Marie married former basketball coach Paul Sexton
and had two step-children, Victoria and Steve, and two grandchildren.