Marilyn Marie Rogers

Marilyn is survived by her husband, Jim (James); her daughters, Laurel (Jere) Fremling, Holly (Trent) Wendler; and her grandchildren, Joel (and fiance Courtney) Fremling, Alicia Wendler, and Kaila Fremling. She is preceded in death by her parents Clifford and Alva (Lundvall) Jackson, and her brothers Clifford (Marge) Jackson, Harold (Yyvette) Jackson, Donald (Kaye) Jackson, and Jim (Judy) Jackson. Her feisty and fighting spirit may have come from survival instincts of being the youngest child and the only girl.

Marilyn was born April 5, 1937, in Manistique, Michigan which was where her heart has always been. During her high school years, she had many years of moving and attending different high schools. Marilyn attended Manistique HS, as well as schools in Evert, Mich.; South Lyon, Mich.; Everett, Wash.; and graduated from high school in Ketchikan, Alaska.

After graduating from high school Marilyn worked for Boeing in Seattle, Wash. With a desire to get a college education, she worked hard to attend Washington State in Pullman, Wash. One of her proudest moments was joining the Air Force and playing the trumpet in the Air Force band. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, she continued her pursuit of education. Marilyn worked hard at many odd jobs while continuing her education at Western Washington. She eventually made it to Chico State near one of her brothers to finish her education.

Marilyn was a teacher. Being on her own, she took on many teaching roles and worked at camps during the summer. Some of the places she taught at were in Fairview, Calif., Sawyers Bar, Calif., Mt. Shasta, Calif. and Vancouver, BC Canada (by one of her brothers). Since money was short, migrant workers let her stay with them and she slept on the floor. She eventually was able to head back to Manistique.

She met her husband Jim in Manistique while she was the principal at Cooks School. They fell in love and married. Jim’s position with the Federal Forest Service caused them to move around, so she was again off on new adventures. They had lived in New Hampshire (where their two girls joined them), Vermont, Michigan, Oregon and Minnesota. When Jim was able to retire, they headed back to the Manistique area and settled in Garden Corners, Mich. They attended the Congregational Church in Rapid River, Mich. Their final move was to Majestic Pines in Grand Rapids, Minn., closer to family, and where the staff treated her like family.

Marilyn had a love of the outdoors. She enjoyed downhill skiing, hunting, her HUMONGOUS garden (where a single weed would never survive and everyone would have more than enough to eat), she took great pride in having the cleanest driveway around after a snowstorm and loved to rewire homes and tear down walls (a lot).

In accordance with Marilyn’s wishes, no formal public services are planned. Memorials in Marilyn’s memory may be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org), or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are with the Rowe Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Grand Rapids, Minn. To sign the online guestbook or send condolences visit www.rowefuneralhomeandcrematory.com.