Marilyn Elizabeth Little

Marilyn was born on August 8, 1927 to Leslie and Zelia Thompson in Melbourne, Florida. She graduated from Melbourne High School in 1945. In an article published in The Melbourne Times entitled “Senior Class Prophecy – Class of 1945,” the author predicted that Marilyn would prove herself “a very efficient nurse only to retire to a domestic career as the wife of a handsome doctor….”

After high school, Marilyn attended Emory University, graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1948. She then returned to Orlando, Florida where her parents had moved. It was there that she met Frank S. Little, whom she married on June 12, 1949. On June 11, 1950, she gave birth to their first son, Frank S. Little, Jr. Frank Jr. was followed by son William on May 20, 1953, and daughter Angela on January 28, 1958.

Marilyn put her Emory education to good use, working as a nurse in a number of private practices before gaining a position at Orange Memorial Hospital in 1963. Beginning in the Emergency Room, she worked her way up to the position of head nurse in the Neurosurgery department in 1974.

Upon her return from Emory, Marilyn joined the College Park Baptist Church, and served the church faithfully in many capacities. She worked in the nursery, sang in the adult choir, and travelled with mission groups to Great Britain, Europe, Alaska, and Hawai’i, to mention a few. In 1990, she was among the inaugural group of women ordained as deacons of the church.

Marilyn is survived by her son Bill; daughter Angela and son-in-law Brice Alexander; grandchildren Erik Little; Andrew, Philip, and Anthony Alexander; Michael and Melinda Little; and great-grandson Elias Little.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care at https://web.cshospice.org/