Marilyn Burke Hartsell

Marilyn Burke Hartsell, a resident at Erickson Senior Living in Catonsville, MD passed away on July 12, 2026 from heart failure. Marilyn was born August 8, 1946 in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, NY to her parents Malcolm J. MacKenzie Hartsell, Esq. and Margaret Long Hartsell.

Marilyn grew up in Beechhurst, Long Island and attended St. Luke’s Parochial School. Marilyn graduated from the Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates, NY. On graduation, she attended the Bronx Community College and received an Associate Degree in Nursing. She worked at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx until moving to Virginia in 1970. Marilyn attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA RN to BSN Program and graduated in 1974 with honors.

Marilyn then worked with ASMA (American Medical Student Association), Squibb Pharmaceuticals, and the Indian Health Service in Arizona on an infant mortality program on the Papago Reservation. On return to the East Coast, Marilyn worked at the William and Mary College Infirmary until returning to Arizona in 1972 and the University of Arizona College of Nursing. She received a Master of Science degree in Pediatric Nursing and Nurse Specialists Degree in Pulmonary Disease in 1974. Following a second return to the East Coast, Marilyn worked at Children’s National Medical Center for over six years as an Infant Sleep Apnea Coordinator as well as participating with Children’s Hospital’s Program to prepare families for taking medically fragile patients’ home as a result of the Katie Becket Law.

While at Children’s Hospital, Marilyn was selected to accompany an interventional group of Neonatal Pediatric and Adult Pulmonary doctors to China to teach modern Pulmonary care. Marilyn was also part the editorial review board for MCN (Maternal Child Nursing) Journal and later, column editor for the Journal Pediatric Nursing.

Marilyn also was involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations Home Health Program for home antibiotic infusions.

Marilyn retired from the National Institute of Health Allergy and Infectious Disease in 2011. Marilyn was predeceased by her parents, her brother, James W. Hartsell, and her longtime companion William Sterling.

Friends are invited to attend a visitation from 10-10:30AM, Friday, August 7 at Our Lady of the Angels Chapel at Charlestown Retirement Community, 711 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:30AM. Interment is private.