Marilu Irene Anderson Schaack

She was born on February 22, 1931, in Glendale, Calif., to Lawrence W. Anderson and Marie L. Tacki. In 1949 she graduated from Hoover High School in Glendale, then attended one year at Glendale College, and a year at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), at the old Riviera campus. She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

At UCSB she met the love of her life, John B. Richards IV, of Laguna Beach, Calif, and left college early to marry him in 1951 as he embarked on a military career as an officer in the Marine Corps. The couple welcomed a baby boy, John, in 1953. The pair moved frequently to various posts during John’s career, including a memorable few years in Kodiak, Alaska, on which Marilu looked back fondly for the rest of her life. She was widowed at the young age of 27 upon her husband’s sudden death, and in 1959 she married for a second and final time to Raymond J. Schaack, in Santa Barbara. The couple had one child, Sandra, in 1964. The marriage ended in divorce six years later.

She worked as an administrative secretary at Santa Barbara City College during the 1970s, as a legal secretary at Santa Barbara Superior Court for Judge Stevens in the 1980s, and as a secretary at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va. in the 1990s.

Marilu studied dancing, singing and the piano, and took part in theater and choir groups in high school. Her favorite movies were musicals and romantic action-adventures from the 1930s and ’40s, particularly when they included heroic characters like those played by Errol Flynn. As a young woman, Marilu enjoyed skiing, knitting and sewing, and even a lively game of pool. She loved animals, especially cats. Until the last few years of her life, when an arthritic hip and several falls severely limited her mobility, Marilu had remained active, was blessed with good health, and enjoyed long walks and spending time with family. She was an independent woman and forever a California girl.

Marilu is survived by her son John B. Richards V of Raleigh and his wife, Lorrie; daughter Sandra M. (Schaack) Masinter of Cary and her husband, Todd; and three grandchildren, William Brown, Katherine Brown and Ryan Masinter. She is preceded in death by her parents; her half-brother Wesley L. Anderson; and both former spouses.

A memorial service will take place in the chapel at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 200 SE Maynard Rd. in Cary on Friday, September 1, 2017 at 11:00 am. The burial is planned for a later date at Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Arrangements for the family are under the care of Brown-Wynne Cary. Online condolences may be made at www.brownwynnecary.com