Marilyn Louise Parr

Growing up in Ludington, she was the younger daughter of Clyde and Louise (Michaels) Gibson. She sang in the high school choir for four years and, during her senior year, held major acting roles in three 3-act plays. After graduating in 1955, she attended a year of college before returning to work as a secretary at Jackson Vibrators railway equipment.

Marilyn enjoyed writing in all forms, including letters. In 1958 she married Kenneth Parr, a man she met as a Pen Pal while he was in the US Air Force stationed in Iceland. They lived in Illinois until moving to Michigan in the mid-60s. During their 27 years together, in which they raised two children, Marilyn continued working while Kenneth obtained his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. She somehow survived the trauma of typing his thesis and dissertation on a manual typewriter, using carbon paper and erasing typos by hand from multiple copies. Her education file contains a suspiciously homemade-looking "Ph.T." degree — that's "Puttin' Hubby Thru."Eventually she obtained her own bachelor's degree from Olivet College, graduating summa cum laude, and later, after developing a strong interest in law, completed numerous law enforcement courses.

Marilyn worked for several employers, mostly in academia, but her favorite was the Michigan Dept. of Attorney General from which she retired in 2001 after more than 22 years in the Health Professionals Division. The work was fascinating, and the friends made there were special to her.

In addition to her family and pets, Marilyn enjoyed good books and movies, live theater, and concerts, Ludington beach, writing prose and poetry (winning small prizes in college short poem and play-writing contests), and creating individual personalized cartoon books for family and friends. She also enjoyed antiques, garage sales, jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and Spartan football and basketball.

Marilyn was never much of a traveler, but after she and Kenneth parted ways she did manage numerous trips to Shipshewana and, proudly, two car trips to Maine. During each of the latter, she and her (deliberately unidentified) comedic cohorts in crime got terribly lost in heavy rush hour traffic around Albany - with one incident ending rather traumatically in a personal escort out of the area by the New York State Police.

Marilyn was involved in several churches through the years, serving in various leadership positions and participating in their music programs. She also did hospital volunteer work. She was a kind and gentle person who will be remembered for her quiet ways, strong work ethic, patience, and unique creativity and sense of humor. As an attorney friend once wrote of her in a reference letter: "Finally, a word of caution is in order — there lurks slightly beneath the surface a wry wit, emerging from time to time at unexpected occasions with delightful results."

Marilyn is survived by her son Phillip and daughter Kathryn Parr (Adam Grant), grandson and great-grandson Trevor McMinn and Isaac, two nephews, and several cousins.

At her request, cremation has taken place and no public service will be held. For those desiring, memorial contributions are suggested to the City Rescue Mission of Lansing, 2216 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI 48910-3132.