Marilyn D. Wilson, 61, departed this life on Sunday, July 5, 2015, in her home.

Funeral services will be, Thursday, August 13, 2015, at 11:00 A.M. at Second Christian Church, with Rev. Paul Kelley officiating. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery. A visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church. Final arrangements have been entrusted to the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.arensbergpruett.com.

Marilyn Denise Wilson was born on July 24, 1953, in Atchison, Kansas, to the late Norman and Rozelia (Cushinberry) Wilson. She was the elder of the two children born to the couple.

Marilyn attended St. Benedict’s and Atchison Public Schools, graduating from Atchison High School in 1971.  She attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics.  Marilyn later graduated from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, with her Baccalaureate in Social Work degree in June of 1995.  In the process of doing so, she excelled in academics, receiving departmental honors from the Washburn Department of Social Work and being included in the 1994-95 edition of Who’s Who among Students in American Universities & Colleges.  During her years in Topeka, she also earned an associate’s degree from Washburn University for paralegal studies.

Marilyn worked a variety of jobs over the years; however, the vast majority of her work career was spent as a social worker for the state of Kansas.  She worked in the Topeka, Oskaloosa, Lawrence, and Kansas City areas and travelled many miles to see clients before she finally retired in 2002.  She always took her job seriously and felt that she could make a difference in her clients’ lives.  Like many others in her field, she felt frustration when she could not be that difference.  So her retirement was a welcome relief from the long hours on the road, the paperwork, and the pressures of the job.

Marilyn expressed and shared her creativity and talents in a number of different ways.  She loved drawing, reading, sewing, cooking, gardening, fishing, antiquing, listening to music, and collecting Barbie products of all kinds.  When she was not shopping on E-Bay, she was blogging on her laptop with other lovers of cooking, Kitchen-Aid, and Depression glass. She taught cooking classes at Atchison Senior Village and the Boys and Girls Club and acted as an expert on her favorite online sites.  She relished the KU-K-State rivalry she had with her sister Norma only if K-State came out victorious and always found new ways to incite friendly riots among her aunties over her Kitchen Aid products and other cookware.  She could recite vast amounts of information on any number of subjects, including but not limited to the entire history of the British monarchy, African and Middle Eastern history, and 70s musical artists and groups. She especially loved the “mighty, mighty” Dells, the Dramatics, Tower of Power, and most of all, Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Marilyn is survived by her only sister Norma, her nieces Marisa (Mike) Kelley and Shaina Burton, her great niece Nala Russell, her loving aunties Naomi and Phyllis Downing, her many cousins, other family and friends, her beloved dog Godzilla, and her horse Ashen.  

She was preceded in death by her parents Norman Russel and Rozelia Marilyn Wilson.