Developers need to call their new neighborhoods something–and, with luck, something that will attract buyers. And with so many post-war housing developments being created at the same time, sometimes the builders needed inspiration. In the case of Mar Cheri, there are two stories about the source of that inspiration.
The first story appears in The Seattle Times, on September 11, 1966, in an unsigned article on the topic of subdivision names:
The annual Parade of Homes, with its many communities represented, led to the querrying [sic] of many land developers and community builders about how the names for their various developments were chosen.
For example, the partners in Mar Cheri, near Federal Way, went to the librarian of the University of Washington romance languages department for help. She suggested the combination of Spanish and French, the Spanish word mar, meaning sea, and the French word, cheri, meaning dear.
Seattle Times, September 11, 1966 , Parade of Homes
Another version comes from the grandson of the woman who had been dating the builder when Mar Cheri was begun. She told her grandson that the builder had named the new neighborhood in her honor: Mar Cheri was, she claims, named after her: Marjorie Caudle. The relationship ended (she became Marjorie McGowan), but she always remembered the neighborhood and told her grandchildren the story.
Which story is true? Why not both? Imagine someone trying to come up with a name for his new project that will flatter his love interest. There isn’t a word in any language that will do. Then a languages expert suggests a mash-up of two romance languages. She’s impressed, and he still has a plausible story for the press. In addition, this combined explanation also accounts for why the full-on French “Mer Cheri” didn’t make the cut, since it can’t be twisted so easily into the sound of her name.
And then there is the Stevie Wonder song, “Ma Cheri Amour.” But that song was was recorded in 1969, four years after Mar Cheri became a neighborhood, so it couldn’t be the source for the neighborhood name. To add to the intrigue, though, the website “Urban Dictionary” states that Stevie Wonder named the song after his love interest at the time (Marcia). So do great minds think alike? Or are these stories simply alternate versions of the same urban legend?