Marilyn Ginn

Marilyn “Lynn” Ginn was born on May 14, 1943, in Ardmore, OK. She passed away quietly at her home in Burleson, surrounded by those she loved most, on March 11, 2026. Marilyn is survived by her daughter, Kimberly Morgan; stepson, Russell Ginn; grandchildren, KD, Lucas, Gracelyn, Samuel, Caitlin, Austyn, Elise, and Shannon; her loving husband, Thomas Chandler, and his children, Shelby, Tommy, Sunnie, Stacie, Brittany, and Ashley; and siblings, Merna Gilcrease, Brenda Smith, Clay Henderson, and Carol Yeager; and many nieces and nephews that she loved dearly. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, Calvin and Rachel Henderson; brothers, Cal, Jr. and Jerry Henderson; her late husband, Thomas Ginn; and stepson, Clifford Ginn.

Marilyn will be remembered by all who knew her as loving, kind, fierce, and loyal. She stood five feet five inches in high heels, and you could not imagine how her body could contain the size and fire of her spirit. She was an adventurer in life and country. She loved exploring. She loved her children. She loved her grandchildren. She loved her siblings and her nieces and nephews. She freely shared and passed on her love of exploration to all of them, and then nurtured the flame with summer-long road trips and excursions that they will remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. From the mountainsides of Yellowstone, the forests of Colorado, the painted hills of Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, to the teetering cliffsides of the Grand Canyon and the rivers and trails down below. She loved the Southwest, and in the Southwest, she loved Texas most of all. She loved Yorkshire Terriers, coffee, men named Tom, blue-grass music, and high heels.

Marilyn was born in Ardmore, OK, the first of what would be seven children. Several years later, her family moved to Fort Worth, TX (Westland), where she went to school and helped raise her six younger siblings.

She went on to Polytechnic High. Marilyn was a caretaker at heart, a fighter in spirit, and always found a way to be of service to her family and community. Whether that was working as a supervisor in the hospital, teaching as a substitute in the schools, campaigning for the leaders she believed in, or taking up positions on local advisory boards, she never stopped fighting for what she believed in while trying to make her corner of the world a better place for herself and everyone in it. She loved her community deeply, she loved Texas deeply, and she constantly sought to improve the state she called home.

Marilyn was a truth-teller who quickly earned the respect, trust, and reverence of almost anyone who met her. You never had to wonder what she was thinking because she would come right out and tell you without any hesitation or malice; a rare and valuable quality that helped earn her many lifelong friends, and only a few enemies. She would argue with a fence post if she thought she could win, and most of the time she did. She was stubborn, hard-headed, and determined, but also charming, funny, and kind. Most of all, she was deeply loving, caring, and accepting.

Marilyn had her first and only daughter at nineteen, raising her while working as a waitress until she met her second husband, Thomas Ginn, who would go on to become the first great love of her life and step in as the father of her daughter until his passing in 1999. After he passed, she moved out to California to be closer to her daughter, now with a family of her own, and run The 10th Green Inn, in Valley Springs, California. It was there that she met Thomas Chandler, partner in crime, and they would be married with their closest friends and family in attendance. Eventually, moving back to Texas together to start the second act of their lives, and take care of her parents as their health deteriorated. For a long while they drove back and forth across the Red River and into Oklahoma to be there and then eventually moved to Oklahoma until their passing. A sacrifice she made with grace and ease because taking care of the people she loved was integral to her character. While in Oklahoma she made close friends and found friends and a church they loved.

Above all, Marilyn was God-fearing and loved the Lord and her family more than anything on earth. She was a matriarch of multiple generations who lived her life with passion, integrity, empathy, and principle. In the end, she was surrounded by the people she loved most. She will be sorely missed by all those who knew her, and admired far beyond her earthly attendance.

Marilyn's ashes will be buried at her plot, next to her late husband, Thomas Ginn, at Tolar Cemetery in Tolar, TX.