Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935; more importantly, Marvin Elmer Eakman was born four days earlier to Edwin and Coral Eakman in Yakima, Washington. Following a house fire that was a total loss on the night of his seventh birthday, he found himself before long in Portland, Oregon. Marvin was an only child, but he enjoyed spending time with many friends hiking, fishing, and exploring. Along the path of childhood were a number of schools, a collie named Laddie, various girlfriends, and being top of his class at Jefferson High School. Teenage years allowed for more camping trips and other excursions with friends. Stories arose from such trips: a friend’s appendicitis required a midnight departure from a campsite and a near-miss of hitting a large deer on a mountain road; another resulted in Marvin surviving an auto accident as a passenger but breaking a collarbone when crushed between a football-player friend on one side of him and a power pole on the other during the collision.
Marvin began college studying geology, but his job at the RH Wahl Co. in downtown Portland lured him to the world of business and away from the classroom. Not that he ever stopped learning. Marvin always loved to read and over the years developed an extensive library about the history of the United States, with a special focus on the West. Lewis & Clark were of particular interest to him. From the world of retail, Marvin worked at the Vinton Co., a wholesaler of housewares, first as a warehouseman, and later as a buyer of products found in most people’s kitchen cupboards.
On June 16, 1957, Marvin married Virginia Elizabeth (Libby) Eakman. Following the honeymoon, they took over the little house owned by Libby’s parents, John and Bernice Linkous, who, after the wedding, moved away to Colorado for a business opportunity. The following year, son Raymond Patrick was born, followed in 1961 by John Edwin (in honor of his grandfathers) and in 1963, Scott. Libby insisted that THIS child get Marvin’s name, and he relented and allowed Scott to have Marvin as the middle name.
With five in a tiny house, a bigger residence was needed. Marvin and Libby took over the mortgage of an old house in the Beaumont District, and he spent many nights after work painting and remodeling it to the point where they all could make the move to live in it in the spring of 1963. Marvin lived in that house for more than half a century until he moved to a senior retirement complex in 2017. During those 54 years, sons were raised, records were collected, and books were steadily added to the bookshelves.
Marvin introduced the beauty of the outdoors to Libby first and then to his sons on countless hikes, camping trips, and summer vacations. He made sure that they all got to see important historical sites as well as natural wonders, especially on the summer vacations when driving to Colorado to see John and Bernice. It was much more often national parks rather than amusement parks on Marvin’s itinerary.
Later in life, Marvin fell from a ladder while cleaning out gutters, and he broke his back. This was far worse than the time when a Volkswagen engine he was working on slipped and almost cut off a finger. Due to the injury to his back, on top of the collarbone break years earlier and a broken hip from a fall later in life, Marvin dealt with a degree of pain for years. He persevered and stayed as active as he could as long in life as he could, even with a pacemaker inserted in his chest in later years. On top of the physical pain was the emotional agony of losing Libby in 2012 as her health deteriorated and she died. Now a widower, he in time established a special relationship with Katherine, a lady who gave him the most reason to keep on enjoying life.
In addition to reading, Marvin loved PBS programming and other well-written shows on TV, photography (amassing a large collection of beautiful slides), and music of a large number of styles (though not that of Elvis Presley). He loved his family, enjoyed his friends, and was happy to recall the many moments of his life that meant something special to him.
After going to the hospital to have abdominal pain treated, Marvin was admitted for several days. The pain faded away, and the cause was not positively determined. Going home soon was expected. During a time when COVID-19 was everybody’s main concern, Marvin did everything right to avoid catching that. But life – and death—happen anyway from other things. On the morning of January 16, 2021, an unexpected drop in blood pressure occurred, and Marvin’s heart finally gave out. He had just recently reached his 86th birthday, and as he often admitted after passing 80, he never thought he would live this long. His family is so grateful that he did, and he lived a wonderful life and experienced so much.
Marvin was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin & Coral, in-laws, John & Bernice Linkous and brother-in-law John Patrick Linkous, and wife, Libby. He is survived by his three sons and their wives, Ray & Ana, John & Debbie, and Scott and Kate, along with grandchildren Nathaniel, Jeremy, Jared, and Sara, and Jeremy’s wife Jennifer and their son, great-grandson Noah. When COVID-19 is finally under control and it is safe to do so, a celebration of life will be held in remembrance of Marvin Elmer Eakman. And no, Elvis has left the building and will not be there, but Marvin’s spirit will be in attendance.
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