Marilyn Louise Shultz

Marilyn L. Shultz died from cancer on June 15, 2022 at Glenn Arbor Hospice (Centrica Care) in Battle Creek. She was born in Albion to George V. Bechstein (1911-1989) and Louise T. (VanWert) Bechstein (1911-2002) and attended Albion Public Schools, graduating from Albion High School in 1959.

Her marriage to Murray Shultz in 1963 lasted until his death in August 2012. They and their sons Jeff and Tim lived for many years in the Burr Oak Street home built by Marilyn’s grandfather, Frank Bechstein (1885-1966). In 2001 they moved to a 10-acre property just north of Marshall and took full advantage of country life. Her enjoyment of gardening and the outdoors was interrupted by a diagnosis of colon cancer. Complications from radiation and surgery plagued her off and on thereafter, but it did not stop her from resuming her life. She moved to a condo In Marshall following Murray’s death in 2012.

Marilyn had many jobs during her years in Albion, starting in the early 1960s as a window trimmer at J. C Penney. She worked for over two decades at the Montgomery Ward catalog store, where she was promoted to manager. The company frequently asked her to assist troubled stores in other towns. After Wards closed, she worked for the Albion Public Schools in various capacities, then as a teller at Great Lakes Bank and finally for the Albion Public Library.

She was enthusiastic about gardening of all kinds and had been a member and one-time president of the Albion Garden Club. Even as her health declined and gardening opportunities were limited to the roadside at the entrance of her condo community, she would tend plantings with long-handled tools while seated on a motorized scooter parked at the curb. She had an artist’s temperament. A life-long creative urge led her to explore new arts and crafts. Every few years, she would adopt a new theme or medium and then move on to another… painting, sculpture, candlesticks, tie dying, sewing, fairy gardens, quilting. She was a regular participant at local craft shows and often sold all the items she took. During the pandemic, she kept friends and family supplied with homemade masks.

She read stacks of books at an incredible rate. She collected old glass that she found garage sales, estate sales, and Goodwill. She doted on her pets … and other people’s pets. She raised her sons under challenging circumstances. She held strong opinions about a lot of things.

Marilyn was diagnosed with a second cancer in April 2021 and chose to lead her life as best she could rather than endure another medical battle. She showed no doubt, regret or fear. To her it was simply the reasonable thing to do. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband and is survived by her son Jeffrey Shultz, daughter-in-law Janet Easly (both of Maryland) and son Timothy Shultz of Battle Creek.

The cremated remains of Marilyn and Murray Shultz will be united eternally at Fort Custer National Cemetery. Marilyn requested that no memorial be held for herself but insisted that Murray's military service be recognized at interment.

The family requests that any donations in memory of Marilyn may be made to the Spina Bifida Association, Erin’s Angels Rescue or Centrica Care Navigators.

To leave online messages of condolence, please visit www.kevintiddfuneralhome.com