Marilyn was born in Helena, Arkansas on May 18,1936, the daughter of William Herbert and Pauline Bowden Turnage. Her family moved to El Dorado in 1940 to be with Herbert’s parents – William M. and Alice Turnage, and to help run the local hardware store. The whole family was active with East Main Baptist Church. She graduated from El Dorado High School in 1954.
As a child, Marilyn had trouble with asthma and was taken by her mother to New Mexico for the dry air while her father served in the U.S Army in WWII. Trips to New Mexico helped Marilyn choose to attend the University of New Mexico, where she met Tom Bryan. They married in 1957, had two children, then moved to El Paso, Texas, where she attended the University of Texas at El Paso. She pursued a master’s degree in history, focusing on Black History of El Paso. She taught many standing-room-only classes as a teaching assistant.
Marilyn began working for Trans Texas Airlines in 1970, (to become United Airlines). This spawned a lifelong love of travel. She made her first major trip in the 70’s to Nepal. She retired in 2000 and continued to travel the world. She was a serious birdwatcher and accumulated impressive lists of species from the U.S. and around the world.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, Marilyn raised and showed championship Abyssinian cats. She traveled the country to cat shows, and eventually became a cat show judge. Her Abyssinians were ranked among the best in the country.
Marilyn was a very active volunteer for Ft. Worth Audubon Society and Ft. Worth Sierra Club, where she led numerous birding, camping and canoeing trips. After retirement, she joined the Elm Fork Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists and was involved in numerous conservation and restoration projects, where she accumulated thousands of volunteer hours. She has left behind a community of friends and admirers with those groups.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother William Turnage and his daughter and son-in-law, Valerie and Todd Tucker, and sister Barbara Alan Smith, as well as Marilyn’s daughter-in-law Tammy Bryan.
She is survived by daughter Brynne Bryan (wife of John Thomlinson) of Flower Mound, TX; son Barry Bryan of OR; grandchildren Amber Rose Carver and Crystal Rose Bryan of OR, Benjamin Lee Bryan of CO; great grandson Benjamin Flint Chrismon; her sister’s children, Slade Smith and Kerry DeMille of VA, and her brother’s wife Myra Turnage of El Dorado AR and their children, Paul Turnage, Greg Turnage, Carol Turnage Whatley, and their children.
Graveside funeral services will be at Arlington Cemetery in El Dorado at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 7, 2024. Burial will follow at the direction of Young’s Funeral Directors.
Memorials may be made to the Fort Worth Audubon Society (FWAS), Fort Worth Sierra Club, Elm Fork Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist, or to your favorite conservation organization.
Condolences can be expressed at www.youngsfuneralhome.com for the Turnage family.
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