Date of Birth:
Sunday, April 1, 1928
Date of Death:
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Age:
88 years old

Marilyn Jean Mellin Reynolds

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” — Proverbs 31:26.

Marilyn spent her life uplifting those in her own family, and those around her, through her words of wisdom and gracious acts of kindness. She always had a smile and gentle counsel to those who needed encouragement.

Marilyn was born in Cokato, Minnesota on April 1, 1928 to August and Frances (Lindquist) Mellin. She grew up mainly in Howard Lake, Minnesota, and spent her high school years in Minneapolis, where she graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 1946. She attended Minnesota Bible College in Minneapolis where she met Eugene Austin Reynolds from Clear Lake, Iowa. They were married on June 3, 1949 in Howard Lake. After Gene served as senior pastor at Meadow Park Church in Rochester (now Hope Summit Church), he left the ministry and joined the staff development team at Rochester State Hospital. When the hospital was closed, they moved to St. Peter where Gene took on a staff development post at the Regional Treatment Center.

While raising her family, Marilyn worked part time and full time in a variety of roles in social services at Olmsted County Social Services and as a case worker at the St. Peter RTC. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Gene of 55 years, her parents, August and Frances; five sisters: Christine, Verna, Myrtle, Linnea, Ruth, and Alice; two brothers: Walter and Kenneth; her niece, Betty Hatrick, who was like a sister, and her dearly loved grandson: Andrew Mellin Reynolds.

She is survived by one older sister, Deloris; her five children: Larry, Mark (Nancy), Cinda (Jason) Sawyer, Kevin (Cindy), and Tim (Becky); three granddaughters: Nikki (Eric) Redman, Sara, and Haley; one great grandson: Elric Andrew Reynolds, born in July 2015; two step grandchildren: Susie (Chad) Donovan and Rock (Kali) Schultz; five step great grandchildren: Abbi, Anthony, Dean, Jacob, and Lance (Sarah); and one step great great granddaughter, Mylaa Renee Donovan, born in May 2016. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, great grandnieces and great grandnephews, plus countless relatives throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and Finland.

Visitation will begin Friday, March 31, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home, 1105 12th Street SE, Rochester, and will continue on Saturday, April 1 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm at the same location. A Memorial Celebration will be held Saturday, April 1 at 2:00 pm at the same location. A birthday reception will follow immediately after the service in the adjacent dining room (April 1 would have been Marilyn’s 89th birthday!).

A private family interment will take place at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts to the donor’s choice, or to: Hope Summit Church in Rochester – specifically the Children’s Ministry, or to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis – specifically the Music Ministry (https://squareup.com/store/st-lukes-episcopal-church-mpls/item/music-donation), or to the Philip Watkinson Family Mission in Baja California (https://www.gofundme.com/watkinsons).