On January 9th, 2023 Marilyn Remington passed away peacefully after 90 years. Marilyn was born to Hyrum Deronda and Ardella Lowry on March 16, 1932, during the Great Depression. She was the first granddaughter born on either the Rockwood or Lowry side of her family, and was cherished especially by her aunts, who sewed all her clothes and diapers.
Marilyn grew up in Sugarhouse with her younger brother John, and her little sister, Joyce. She played at Fairmount Park, read tons, and saved her dimes for the movies. Though shy, Marilyn loved to perform, and would drape a curtain over the entrance to her home’s coal furnace, using it as a stage.
When she was 16, Marilyn met Don, a boy who moved in down the street, and was a year ahead of her at South High. He made her laugh more than anyone she knew. At the University of Utah, he waited hours to drive her home from her many play rehearsals. She married him on August 19, 1955. They had three daughters: Kim, Lyn, and Jill. Lyn passed away from leukemia at age 2. During Marilyn’s final weeks, she became excited to see Lyn again.
One of the most exciting moments of Marilyn’s life was when she flew on a plane for the first time. It was the mid-1960s. She and Don were going to Europe. Together, they would go on to visit all 50 states, and many countries. She loved planning family adventures to unconventional places, like in 2009, when she took all her grandchildren to “the neatest little town” – Cody, Wyoming.
More than anything, Marilyn wanted to help other people. She taught 2nd grade for 31 years, mostly at Butler Elementary, and proudly wrote the reading curriculum used across the state. She was an active member of Utah’s Daughters of Pioneers, and the LDS Church, where she held many callings, she loved to write and compose yearly roadshows, despite her confessed lack of musical aptitude.
In her retirement, she was a super-volunteer for Visit Salt Lake, and devoted hours to creating magical moments for her grandkids — including building a “Spook Alley” each Halloween, throwing special Christmas parties, and hosting yearly Easter egg hunts. As her health declined, in her final weeks, she insisted on surviving until Christmas Eve, so she could give her grandchildren and great grandchildren each the gift bags she’d assembled.
Marilyn is survived by her husband, Don; her sister, Joyce (Tom Hagerman); her daughters, Kim (Wayne Bassham); Jill (Perrin Love) her grandchildren, Travis, Tyler (Megan Sutphen), Bobby, Sienna, Elizabeth, and Catherine; and her great-grandchildren, Isaac, Oliver, Zander, and Berlyn.
Funeral 10 am Monday, January 16th Wasatch Mortuary 3401 South Highland Drive, Millcreek. Friends and Family Visitation preceding funeral at 9 am.
