EDMOND
Marilyn was born June 18th, 1932 in Brownstown, Indiana to Leonard and Martha (Tormoehlen) Kuehn. Marilyn passed away peacefully at home in Edmond, Oklahoma on July 22, 2023 covered by one of her homemade quilts, and surrounded by her husband Tim and her family. She grew up on the family farm as one of many middle children – Richard, Frances, Howard, Marilyn, Gene, Hazel, Carol, and Nancy. Marilyn had her own chickens, and was very involved with 4-H, winning firsts at age 15 for her dressmaking and open class of Jersey cows.
At age 16, she took off from Brownstown H.S. to care for her younger siblings when her mother Martha passed away. She resumed her studies in the fall after her father married Golda Redicker. With the help of teachers and friends, she graduated on time and attended Purdue University.
During her final year at Purdue, and vowing not to get married in College, she met Francis (Tim) Parker, a fellow Purdue University Senior. Marilyn graduated with a degree in Home Economics, which would come in handy raising kids and running a household. Tim and Marilyn were married within six months after graduation. Marilyn stayed in Tim’s hometown, Cleveland, Ohio while Tim finished flight school and was deployed in South Korea just after hostilities ended. They had three children – David, Diane, and Jeffrey. The family moved to Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a Chicago suburb in 1968, where the kids grew up. They attended Living Christ Lutheran Church. When the children moved out of the house, Marilyn worked as a manager in a quilting fabric store, helping customers with fabric choice and design. She also taught quilting classes. Quilting also doubled as her hobby which she continued after retirement, making beautiful quilts for family and friends. She donated over 100 handmade baby quilts to Airmen families at Nellis Air Force Base, and Oklahoma City charities.
Marilyn was organized, very practical, generous with her time, talents and treasures, and had the most common sense of anyone we knew. While Marilyn was an excellent cook, she was an extraordinary baker. She made an amazing variety of Christmas cookies every year for the family, baked chocolate chip pumpkin bread for the grandkids, and taught all the kids to bake.
After Tim and Marilyn’s retirement, they lived on a small golf course in Wisconsin during the summer, but were snowbirds, leaving for Las Vegas during the harsh winters. During winter in Las Vegas, Marilyn honed her bingo skills, becoming a frequent bingo champion.
While in their 70’s, they relocated to Oklahoma City, where two of their children live.
She is preceeded in death by her parents Leonard and Martha and step-mother Golda, her brothers Richard, Howard and Gene, and her sisters Frances and Carol. She is survived by Tim, her husband of 68 years, three children David (Valerie) Parker, Diane (Mike) Ming, Jeff (Laurie) Parker, grandchildren Zachary Ming, Sarah Ming, Daniel Parker, Timothy Parker, and Hannah Parker; sisters Hazel Stockelman and Nancy Branscom, brother-in law Larry Littmann, numerous nieces and nephews, and their children.
Service will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church, Friday July 28th at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Messiah Lutheran Church, 3600 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.