Marion Virginia Holton was one of the first black nurses to graduate from the school of nursing at St. Francis Hospital. The other two black graduates in 1950 were Marie Johns and Jean Rose.

Marion was born on May 17, 1929 in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Her parents were William Sercy Holton and Mary Thelma Hill, both born in Georgia.

In the 1930 Federal Census, the Holton family lived in Johnstown and Mr. Holton worked as a laborer for an automobile company. The children were Dorothy, William and Marion.

Mr. William Holton, not quite 36 years old, died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis on May 18, 1936. He is buried at Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown.

At the time of the 1940 census, Mary Hill Holton, a widow, lived with her widowed mother, Hannah Hill, and her brother, Otha Hill, on Grant Street, Johnstown. The Holton children were Dorothy, 14, William, 12, Marion, 10, Betty, 9, Clayman?, 4.

Marion Holton continued her education, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University Pittsburgh in 1966, and a Master of Science at Indiana-Purdue University in 1977.

She married Unknown Patterson and had three children, listed online: Cecily Patterson, Gary Patterson, Carol Patterson Upshur. She married Emery Whitlow on June 28, 1969.

Her work history, found in an online profile: "Staff nurse St. Francis Hospital, 1950—1952, Mercy Hospital, Johnstown, 1956—1958, 1960—1965, instructor pediatrics, 1966—1969. Associate professor nursing Purdue University, Westville, Indiana, since 1980."

Additionally, Marion Whitlow, writer & producer: "Producer (writer): (musical production) A Peoples' Music. Producer: (television program) Countdown to Health, 1988. Coordinator, presenter (exhibitions) Odyssey of African Methodist Episcopal Church: 1787-1987, Quinn Historic Chapel, Chicago, 1987."