Fashion designer and boutique owner Andrea Marcel Case, formerly of Wyncote, has died at the age of 78, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Case died from a heart attack at her home in Cape Coral, Florida.

For 30 years, she had a successful fashion career in the Philadelphia region. From the 1970s through the 1990s, she owned Ruby’s Showcase and Andrea Marcel’s Boutique at several locations in Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

She loved hosting fashion shows and other public events at her stores and other locations. Her specialty was wedding gowns and hats.

She closed her last store in the Cheltenham Square Mall in 2000 when her father fell ill.

Case always had a strong love of fashion and sharpened her design skills by creating costumes for the Howard Players while in college.

In the 1960s, she also taught in the School District of Philadelphia and was very active in the civil rights movement. She always tried to improve the lives of everyone she met.

“She was civic-minded, always wanting to help the people in the community to a better life,” her family said.

Case was a member of the NAACP, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Howard University alumni group. She was also on the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation.

Learn more about Andrea Marcel Case in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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