Marilyn Mills Mundell was born December 18, 1938, in Del Norte, CO. To Herman C. Mills and Dorothy W. Bolinger. She had 2 sisters, Karen Nicodemus and Shalah Perkins. Marilyn joined our family who were waiting to welcome her home, on December 10, 2021.

Marilyn grew up on a farm near the Colorado/ Kansas state line and attended the country school of Konantz. She moved back and forth from the Walsh school to Konantz a few times, until attending High School in Walsh. As a child, she loved riding horses and had steers in 4-H. She was a girl full of life and had a very vivid imagination and an amazing sense of humor, which at times got her into trouble. Marilyn always said that Karen was the most well behaved, daughter, but her and Shalah were frequently getting into trouble. They were Irish twins, so maybe that is why, much to their mother’s dismay, they often took off from the house to go on the grand adventures, they had in their minds. One of their grand adventures ended up burning down a haystack and another time, they put sand in Granddad George Mills’ gas tank! Karen, Marilyn and Shalah were all born within 30 months, so perhaps that explains one of the reasons, that they remained so close to each other throughout their lives.

Rosalie Bitner recently shared a memory with me, she wrote:

Shelley, so sorry to hear you lost your precious mother. I can remember when the Buffalo school kids would have track meets, academic contests, and play days with Konantz and other country schools and Marilyn was the fastest track star in the area. So many wonderful memories. Our community will miss her bright smile and infectious laugh. Thanks so much for sharing that memory with us, Rosalie!

Marilyn was first married in 1954, to this union two daughters were born. Shelley in 1956 and Melanie in 1958. She attended Cosmetology in Denver, graduating in 1960, at which time she met John Mundell.

John and Marilyn were married on November 13, 1960, to this union were born two sons, Sam in 1961 and Grover in 1964.

While John farmed and ran cattle, Marilyn worked off and on in town, as needed. She loved watching her children play sports and any other activities they were in. Marilyn was frequently remodeling the house; it seems like every summer she would have a project going on and she sewed our clothes for many years and did an excellent job! She also loved painting pictures, and said it helped her relax after a long day at work. Marilyn loved to sing and had a beautiful voice and was often singing around the home.

Around 1977, she went back to work as a beautician in Walsh. She shared shops with a few friends, before finally remodeling a small house into a shop, where she would work for several years. For over 30 years, she always did her family’s hair for free. She stayed very busy doing hair in the town of Walsh and loved talking to those who came into her shop! She tried retiring twice but decided that she would rather wear out than rust out, so she went back to work until after June in 2008.

She was always available to those who needed to talk and was a kind and understanding listener. When people would show up at their home, she would always offer to cook them a meal. She loved her grandchildren and was patient with my family, when we would make the long trip from Florida to their home. We would often be there for two weeks every summer. When I married Del, she made him promise that he would bring me back home every summer and he kept his promise! She and Dad would always say, it is way too quiet around here after we were gone, which I am sure they were incredibly grateful for!

Marilyn’s children were:

Shelley who married Del Murphy in 1976, their children are: Michael, who married Helen Peeler, Marshall, MaKayla, who married John Girodat and John, who married Rachel Parker. By next spring, our children will have blessed Mom with 11 great grandchildren.

Melanie married Don Foster in 1979, their children are, Linsey, who married Shane Bishop, Morgan, who is engaged to Kara Davis and Mallory, who married Daren Wagner. They blessed Mom with 12 great grandchildren and 3 great great grandchildren.

Sam was married to Shirley Bryan, their children are, Heather, who married Mark Williams, Amy, who married Chris Caddick and Chase. They have blessed mom with 4 great grandchildren.

Grover married Sally Goldberg, their children are Ruby and Matilda.

Our mother was one of the toughest women I have ever known! She has never let any trials or tragedies get her down. In March of 2013 we lost Grover, in January of

2015 we lost Dad and in 2018 her home burned to the ground. Her attitude was amazing and while talking about the fire, she never made any negative comments about it. The wonderful people of Walsh did what they always do, when there is someone in need and came to her rescue. Our family will forever be grateful for your acts of kindness! We are also grateful to Jim Silvey, for being such a helpful neighbor to her, while she lived in town!

Marilyn leaves behind to mourn, her sister Karen Nicodemus, 3 children, 12 grandchildren 29 great grandchildren and 3 great great grandchildren and so many other members of our family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Shalah, her husband John and her son, Grover.

We all love you Mom and look forward to that grand reunion, that we will have with you and the rest of our family one day!

We are so grateful for all of you who are here today to honor our mother’s memory!

Written by daughter, Shelley Murphy