Marilyn Norah (Giovetti) Dewey

When Marilyn was a child, she was a tomboy who enjoyed playing games outside like cowboys and Indians with her neighborhood friends. At school, Marilyn was on the basketball, volley ball and track teams (where she excelled at the running long jump!) and she served as captain of the gym team. Every year from 2nd grade through the end of high school, she achieved the distinction of being first in her class and won the Best at Latin award as well. Outside of school, Marilyn enjoyed bowling, dancing, skating, skiing, biking and swimming with siblings and friends in the St. Lawrence River which was nearby her childhood home. She also loved to read, especially mysteries and then when she was older, mostly non-fiction. Later on in life, Marilyn really liked to garden and had a vegetable garden for many summers. She was a good cook and enjoyed using the vegetables in her garden to create various recipes even getting some of them published in the newspaper with a small monetary reward! She delighted as well in spending time with her roses and was fond of arranging flowers. One of Marilyn’s much-loved and favorite places to spend time away from home was at beautiful Laguna Beach, spending special times together there with her family, her Canadian one, including her mom, dad, and sisters as well as with her husband, children and grandchildren.

In 1948 following Marilyn’s graduation from high school, her family moved to Vancouver, B.C. Here she graduated as an X-ray technician from St. Paul’s Hospital School of Radiography. It was also here in Vancouver where she met Fred. They married a year later in August 1952. A son, Michael Mark was born in May 1954 but the Lord called him Home to Heaven when he was four. In 1960, Fred and Marilyn and their younger son, Kent, who had been born in 1957, decided to move to California where Fred’s family then lived. Fred, who had graduated in Group Social Work and was working with the YMCA in Vancouver, transferred to the YMCA in Fullerton CA. Even after Fred moved on to other jobs, the family continued to live in Fullerton where they were blessed by the birth of their two daughters, Valerie and Virginia and later six grandchildren: Katie, Mark, Tyler, Kevin, Riley and Connor.

Although Marilyn was brought up in a Christian home, it wasn’t until 1964 after attending the Billy Graham Crusade and reading Graham’s book, Peace With God, that she was able to come to terms with her first son’s death and then made a life-changing commitment to Jesus as her personal Savior and to believing the Bible as God’s authoritative Word of Truth. She joined Eastside Christian Church in 1964 during its warehouse days. Here she became involved over the years in many aspects of serving the Lord—the greeter’s program, women’s ministry, Vacation Bible School and in the early years was supervisor of the nursery for two years as well. Marilyn became an avid student of God’s Word (especially Bible prophecy) and she taught a neighborhood Bible Study group for seven years. Later, when best friend and neighbor, Nancy Van Beenan, had terminal cancer, Marilyn co-founded with her the SOS Ministry (which was the Support Organization for Sick and Shut-ins). She was director of this ministry for 12 years and continued to minister to shut-ins for many years thereafter.

During this time, she also tried her hand at free-lance writing. Writing became her favorite hobby. She enjoyed writing poetry and Christian articles. At one time, she even wrote a mystery book for Valerie and Virginia when they were in their teens. Marilyn had many articles published in Christian magazines until her time for this pursuit became limited because she decided to go back into the work force. Marilyn had been a full-time mom for 15 years while the children were young but later worked both full-time and part-time in radiology clinics for 20 more years before retiring in 1994.

After her retirement, she kept active in People of the Word Bible Study and was a group leader for two years. She was a member of Wisdom Seekers Bible class and she also joined Fred in taking communion to shut-ins. When the ministry organizers for the church’s pantry and clothes closet became ill, Marilyn kept the pantry and clothes closet ministry for the needy functioning for about 6 more years.

Marilyn deeply loved and was tremendously proud of each of her children. She was always there for them throughout the years with her selfless love, care, support, Godly counsel, encouragement, wisdom, listening ears and prayers. She greatly loved her grandchildren as well. When they were young, she spent many hours reading them stories, playing games with them, working on puzzles, making crafts, attending Little League, soccer games and other events the grandkids participated in and sharing fun, old camp songs with them that her Scout Master dad had taught her. Marilyn had learned her way a little bit around the computer and when the grandkids were older, she tried to keep in contact with them through emails. It brought much joy to Marilyn knowing she was a great grandma to two adorable great granddaughters, Clara (5) and Rosie (4). She delighted in receiving videos and pictures of them on her phone and would send them some videos as well singing songs to them for their birthdays or holidays. Marilyn had the pleasure of meeting Clara several times and was uplifted and entertained by Clara’s laughter, enthusiasm and animated ways.

Marilyn was diagnosed with 3rd stage melanoma in April 2011. After the initial surgery, she decided to forego any further aggressive treatment and would trust the Lord with the “number of her days” on earth that she had left by His grace, mercy and wisdom. Two and one half months later after her cancer diagnosis, the entire family—Fred, three children, six grandchildren, in-laws, and extended family members celebrated Marilyn’s 80th birthday and a year after that, Marilyn and Fred celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. The Lord is so good and faithful! If Fred had lived longer, they would have been married for 70 years the year he died. Marilyn lived 13 more years after her cancer diagnosis and was known as “quite remarkable” to all of her doctors and definitely was a walking miracle testimony of the Lord’s goodness and healing power.

Marilyn has said how blessed she feels by all these activities over her life-time and by each of the people involved. Also, how blessed she feels by the church fellowship she was a part of for so many years and by the relationship she was able to maintain throughout her life with siblings and their families, with in-laws and their families as well as her immediate family who were there to share the good times and help her get through the bad times which inevitably come to all of us. She wanted to express her heart-felt gratitude to the Lord for her good parents, caring husband and loving children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She especially wanted to give deepest thanks to her Lord and Savior, Jesus, for rescuing her from the depths of despair following her little boy Mark’s death, for her personal redemption and for the blessed hope of Heaven.

One last word Marilyn wanted to share from her heart. She had always felt the main purpose of her life—other than to serve the Lord and share the good news of His salvation and love—was to see that her children grew up to be followers of Jesus Christ, productive citizens, and form Christian homes of their own and she is so thankful to the Lord that they all did and she loves each one of them so much! She always has and she always will. One of Marilyn’s life verses that goes along with this is Joshua 24:15b, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Marilyn is survived by her son Kent (Peggy) of Folsom, CA, daughter Valerie (Roger) of Fullerton, CA, and daughter Virginia of Brooklyn Center, MN.

She had 6 grandchildren, Katie Green of Fullerton, CA, Mark and Sarah Dewey of Cameron Park, CA, Tyler Green and Brian Hendrickson of Orange, CA, Kevin and Amber Dewey of Auburn, CA, Riley and Sasha Green of Minneapolis, MN, Connor Green of Fullerton, CA and two great grandchildren, Clara Dewey of Auburn, CA and Rosie Dewey of Cameron Park, CA.

She is also survived by one sibling, her sister, Beverly Chapman of British Columbia, Canada, and several nieces and nephews.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, Fred Dewey, her son, Michael Mark Frederick, her parents, William and Mary Giovetti, her sister, Betty Giovetti, her sister, Peggy Dobson, her brother Bill Giovetti and her son-in-law, Scott Green.