Marilyn Rae Newsom

Marilyn was born September 7, 1931, in Goshen, Indiana, to Carter and Beatrice Zentz Logan and moved on to her heavenly home on Dec. 21 in the Hoosier Village Health Center. Marilyn grew up with three brothers, James, Phillip, and Gary and graduated from Goshen High School in 1949. In 1951 she received as Associates in Arts Degree from Goshen College and then became employed as a secretary at Goshen Stamping and Tool. In 1954 Marilyn moved to Chicago where she served as a secretary for the Chicago Association of American Baptist Churches. Her Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Education was earned at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Chicago, where her older brother, Jim was a student and where she met her future husband, Ron. They were married in 1959 in the First Baptist Church of Goshen.

Faithfully involved and committed to the Church her whole life, Marilyn served as a secretary at the Anderson Indiana Council of Churches, the Northern New York United Methodist Conference Center in Watertown, New York, the Watertown Urban Mission and in the Beloit, Wisconsin, school system. She also served as a youth leader at the YWCA in Jamestown, NY, and as a teacher in the released time program with the Fort Wayne Council of Churches. In the various churches where Marilyn and Ron served, she worked diligently, joyfully, and effectively as a children’s Sunday school teacher.

Loving and beloved Marilyn greatly enjoyed reading and was a prolific reader of 40-502 good novels each year. She delighted in snowfalls (“It’s so beautiful”) and gardening, especially vegetable, and is well and fondly remembered for summer after summer of many fresh veggies. Marilyn found great joy, also, in meeting and greeting people, even strangers, engaging them in conversation, learning about their families, work, and interests. In her later years, she spent hours and hours in researching and recording her genealogical discoveries on the Zents, Logan, and Newsom families.

Marilyn was a good tennis and softball player when she was young. In her later years she enjoyed watching tennis on television and Notre Dame, Indiana, and Wisconsin basketball and football. At the professional level, the Chicago Bears and the Colts were her favorite teams. Of course, love of and concern for family was the pinnacle of her life and loyalties. Gatherings and conversations with family members always put a great joy in her heart, a big smile on her face, and a sparkle in her large blue eyes.

She is survived by her husband, Ron; two children: Douglas Newsom (Nancy) in Bluffton, SC, and a daughter Susan Staples (Mark) also in Bluffton, SC; four grandchildren: Kyle Newsom (Tara Kramer), Alex Newsom, Olivia Staples (Tony Risaliti) and Anthony Staples; a great-granddaughter, Harlow Marie Newsom; brother, Gary Logan of Valparaiso, IN; sister-in-law, Bonnie Logan of Tucson; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Hila and Robert Gosnell of Atlanta, GA; several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and brothers, James and Phillip.

Huge gratitude is expressed to her outstanding Community Health doctors, Madhavi Rao, George Rubeiz, Robert Sharp, and Teresa Beam! Also to Dr. Marc Frost, those doctors and staff who ministered to her at the St. Vincent Heart Hospital, the wonderful staff in the Hoosier Village Health Center and Chris, the incredibly competent, caring hospice nurse. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Endowment Fund of the First Baptist Church, 8600 North College Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46240 or the charity of your choice.

End of life arrangements are with Leppert Mortuary of Nora. A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 3:00pm in the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis of which Marilyn was a member. For the safety and health of many, there will not be a receiving/greeting line. The service which will be live streamed is open to all who will be masked, practice social distancing and who have received at least two vaccine shots.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.leppertmortuary.com for the Newsom family.