Marn was born, Margaret H. Riley, on October 19, 1927. Marn had a happy childhood raised in Oak Park, the only child of William Henry Riley and Eva Yetter Riley. In kindergarten, Marn met 3 dear souls Jean, Mary Ellen, and Mary who remained lifelong friends and who were each attendants in Marn’s wedding.
Marn’s early childhood was uneventful but happy. It provided her with an enduring foundation of friendship and love. However, when Marn was just 13, her mother suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm and was gone in seconds. And because single fatherhood was not a well-developed practice back then, especially the single fatherhood of a young teen-age girl, Marn was taken in by her mother’s sister, Aunt Ruby. Together with her mother’s other sister, Aunt Nanette and her husband Uncle Herb, Marn was cared for through her high school years, graduating from Oak Park – River Forest High in June, 1945. In the fall of that year Marn traveled to Northfield, Minnesota to attend college at Carleton.
As Marn was entering college, WWII had just ended. Soldier-students were returning from the war to restart their interrupted college studies. As it happened, Mom’s future husband was one such soldier-student. His name was Robert “Bob” Hamilton, and he returned to Carleton in fall of 1945, the same time that Marn had matriculated. And while they did not know each other during their first fall semester, in March of 1946 mutual friends introduced Marn to Bob by inviting them to meet on a blind date. Well, as luck would have it, the blind date worked! And 3 & 1/2 years later, on October 1st, 1949, Marn and Bob were married in Oak Park.
For the first two years of their marriage, Marn taught 2nd grade in Evanston at Orrington Elementary School. Son Charles “Chuck” Struthers was born in 1952, and son William “Bill” Yetter in 1954. The young family relocated from their Howard Street apartment to Lake Avenue in Wilmette. Marn stayed at home tending to the hectic needs of her two young sons, who benefited immensely from her caring, loving, nurturing ways and who, to this day, remain profoundly, eternally grateful. When Chuck and Bill started grammar school, Marn volunteered for the Wilmette Family Services and served on the board of the local AAUW. Then, during her sons’ teenage years, when it became evident that they would both be going off to college, Marn realized that she wanted to stay active and engaged with something new. And so, Marn returned to school to get her master’s degree in library science at Rosary College. After graduating from Rosary, Marn began her new career as a librarian working first, as the school librarian at the Middlefork Elementary and second, at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield. In 1972 Marn began a 17-year career as a research librarian at Skokie Public Library, where the abiding legacy of that work were the many, many friendships that she established and nurtured.
Marn and Bob were married for almost 43 years before Bob passed away in 1991 of cancer. Of her marriage, Marn said: “We were happy and we knew we were happy.” Marn and Bob shared a steadfast love, but when Bob died, Marn persevered and found her way. Marn immediately adopted the brave and admirable philosophy of not saying “no” to any invitation that she received. And while she merely may have been going through the motions at first, Marn settled into a life without her beloved husband, Bob, that became enriched with enduring friendships.
In 2012, Marn talked to her sons about selling the Ashland Avenue house to where the family had moved in 1964. Marn wanted to move to the Mather, a retirement community in Evanston. Being extremely realistic in her reasoning, Marn explained that the house on Ashland was as old as she was. Marn was concerned about the furnace, the roof, but most of all, very afraid of slipping on the icy stairs in the winter. Many children must drag their older parents into retirement communities. But with her suggestion, Marn offered her children one of the best gifts they ever received. Her kids couldn’t have been more excited for her. Marn didn’t realize until she had gotten moved in what an extremely stimulating and fulfilling final chapter The Mather would become. Marn continually marveled at the fact that at The Mather, in this so-called “final” chapter of her life, she found herself establishing, nourishing and cherishing even more new and exciting friendships. Her children have no doubt that moving to The Mather added years to Marn’s life.
In looking back at a life well lived, it is easy to see quality that best defined Marn, the river that ran through and pervaded her life. Marn, with her never flagging spirit, graced all of those with whom she came into contact with a continuously present kindness. Marn’s was a kindness that was always at the ready to address the next situation, always at hand to embrace her next encounter. When you talked to Marn, she listened. She listened with sincere openness, she listened with loving kindness. And then in her responses, Marn responded to kindness with kindness, she responded to situations needing care with compassion, and she responded to joy, with an equal measure of joy, always cheerful, always ready to laugh.
So, in celebrating Marn’s life, recall that hers was a life constituted by abiding kindness. Marn’s was a life well lived and well loved. And it is in that spirit of kindness that we continue to share in Marn’s eternal optimism, her enthusiastic love of life, and her unabated joy.
In addition to her two sons, Marn is survived by the wife of Chuck, Lisa, and the wife of Bill, Katie, and Bill and Katie’s kids, Marn’s granddaughter Krista and her husband Andrew, and their two children, Will and Archie, and Marn’s grandson Steven and his wife Danielle.
A celebration of life reception will be held on Monday, April 8th, 2024 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm in the Fairfield Room at The Mather, 425 Davis Street, Evanston. The family will share a few words at 3:30pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salvation Army, the Greater Chicago Food Depository, or the Mather Library Fund.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.WmScottFuneralHome.com for the Hamilton family.
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