Marilyn Lu Krause

Marilyn Lu (Sprague) Krause was born in Greeley Colorado on Sunday October 21st 1934 to parents Harold and Hazel Sprague. Five years later, her parent’s careers in education took her from Colorado to Oregon. In her early years, Marilyn sometimes found that attending the same school where her father worked could be a little awkward. In elementary school she starred in her school’s performance of Tinkerbell. She always maintained that she was chosen for the lead role due to her raw talent as an actress and not because her father was the school principal. After World War II, family friends convinced Harold and Hazel to move their young family, which now included Marilyn’s brother David, to warmer weather in Southern California. She liked to tell the story that her parents sent her to summer camp and while she was away, they packed up the house to move out of state. Fortunately, she arrived back home before they left.

It was in junior high school that Marilyn came to know Carl Krause. Marilyn attended Long Beach Woodrow Wilson High School where she and Carl remained friends. It wasn’t until they were both in college that they began to date and on June 25th 1955, Carl and Marilyn got married. In the three years that followed, her daughter Bonnie and son Brian were born. The family of four settled down in Garden Grove California. It is impossible to tell the story of Marilyn’s life without also telling Carl’s. Throughout their 65 years of marriage they were seemingly inseparable.

Marilyn spent a short time working as a dental hygienist and then a teacher’s aide but her main occupation was making a good home for her husband and kids. She was a very social person, often choosing to enjoy life through the observation of others. While raising her kids, she would spend her mornings in the front room watching the kids walk past on their way to school. She would take note when a child got new shoes, or was careless with his books, or when one didn’t walk past perhaps due to a sick day. She would spend her afternoons down the street chatting with neighbors. She was always home in time to make sure that dinner was on the table when her husband returned from work. Like her mom, she became active in the Parent Teacher Association at her kids schools and was a familiar spectator at her their sporting events throughout elementary and high school.

Once her children moved out of the house and went off to college and to start careers of their own, Marilyn was able to spend more time quilting, gardening, and collecting American antiques. She would spend weekends at antique swap meets and together with Carl would travel around the United States in their motorhome collecting memories from antique stores. Her taste in antiques spanned from heavy quarter sawn oak furniture to pink Depression glass, practical kitchen utensils and quirky serving dishes. Her home was filled with these mementos and she could tell you the story of where and under what circumstance each item was acquired.

In 1990, Marilyn and Carl moved north to Washington State. They purchased four acres in the forest outside of the small farming town of Enumclaw. There, they built a brand new house in a Victorian style. It was the perfect place to house her antique collection and the area around western Washington was the perfect place to continue her passion for collecting. Marilyn enjoyed the cooler Washington weather and the sound of the rain on the roof. She became involved in Carl’s love of classic sports cars and with him attended countless car rallies, car shows, and car club award banquets. Although she was not an expert in cars, she enjoyed hanging out with friends and watching the other people watch the cars.

Marilyn and Carl made frequent trips to Southern California to visit their kids and grandkids and to get a break from the rainy Pacific Northwest. Despite the cold winters, she really loved Washington State. She and Carl agreed that “It rains here and we rust, but on nice sunny days when the mountain is out, the pastures are filled with dairy cows and race horses, and our baseball team is winning, it is all worth it.”

Marilyn loved living in their forest house, but at 75 years old, both she and Carl found maintaining such a large piece of property a little intimidating. Over the last few years when on their way to the market, post office, doctor or other business in town, they would drive past a little white church that had been converted to a home. On one particular trip, they noticed a “for sale” sign out front. In July 2010 they jumped at the chance. They bought the 110 year old building and weeks later, their neighbors and friends helped them pack up the forest house and begin life as “that couple that lives in the little old church.”

The years that followed were filled with improvements to the church and Triumph car club road trips. They

traveled to Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, British Columbia, Montana, and the Oregon coast. They also made several more trips to Southern California to visit the kids and grandkids. They became close friends with their new neighbors in downtown Enumclaw. Marilyn would often spend afternoons at the neighbor’s house or across the street on the neighbor’s porch watching the cars and logging trucks go by while chatting about the news in their small town.

Although they loved their little church, they eventually found that maintaining a home was getting difficult. At 83 years, it was time to downsize again. Now, a senior living community in Auburn Washington would better suit their needs as cleaning, painting, and maintaining the garden was becoming more of a burden than a pleasure. It was a difficult transition to make since Marilyn always considered herself to be independent and self-sufficient. But she made the best of the move and enjoyed eating every day in the restaurant and still being able to take a drive back to see the neighbors and check on the little church that she loved.

In 2017, life in Auburn began to feel isolated and the desire to be closer to family was strong. Marilyn and Carl packed up one final time and moved back to Southern California. They moved to Sunrise Senior Living just a short drive from Bonnie’s home. As Carl was still able to drive, they maintained some independence. They took short drives around town and were still able to buy their own groceries. Aging however is relentless and little by little their outings in the car dwindled down to Sunday bus rides provided by Sunrise.

At 85, Marilyn found her memory fading. She still insisted doing as much as she could on her own, but inevitably the care givers at Sunrise were necessary for her to live a healthy life. Still surrounded by her prized antiques, Marilyn found a way to get through each day. Bonnie and Brian visited as often as they could, but Marilyn always longed for the days that she spent in the little church and visiting with her neighbors.

The year 2020 challenged everyone around the world. For Marilyn, it meant continued memory loss and a

diagnosis of dementia. The scope of Marilyn’s world had now decreased to a single room and a small common area where she could see other residents living near her. The fear of a COVID-19 infection at Sunrise became very real in the summer of 2020 and Sunrise severely limited visitors. Visits from her kids were now only possible from the outdoors through window or for short, physically distant meetings on the front porch. Marilyn was still able to get around the building by herself, but found it difficult to express herself except for a special unspoken language between her and Carl. In mid-December 2020, both Marilyn and Carl tested positive for COVID-19. The virus had entered the Sunrise community through someone that had gathered with others on Thanksgiving and it spread quickly through the small community of seniors.

Marilyn’s body was not able to fight off the virus. On the morning of December 27th, 2020 Marilyn passed away while sleeping peacefully in her large antique bed. She is survived by her husband Carl, daughter Bonnie, son Brian, grandsons Daniel, Levi, and Tanner, great grandson Luca, and her brother David.