Marilyn Mae Brown

February 12, 1932 ~ September 3, 2023

Marilyn Mae Brown, 91, Brandon, died on Sunday, September 3, 2023, at Bethany Home, Brandon.

Memorial Services will be held at 10am, Friday, September 29, 2023, at Grace Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, SD.  Burial will follow at the SD State Veteran’s Cemetery.

Marilyn Mae Morse was born on February 12, 1932, and was the second youngest of seven children to Louis and Martha (Davids) Morse, in Sibley, IA.

She was just a toddler when the family moved to the Casselton/Chaffee area in North Dakota. As a young girl, Marilyn worked alongside her mother in the garden and kitchen cooking meals for her father, brothers, and farm hands. She attended and graduated from Casselton High School. After high school, she took the bus every week from home to Fargo, ND, where she attended business college and worked in a jewelry store. Her roommate, Rose Brown, introduced Marilyn to her brother, Ray, a Navy sailor. Marilyn married Ray on August 15, 1952, in Casselton, ND. The couple immediately moved to Billings, MT, where Ray worked as a cattle buyer for Armor. It was here that their three children were born. Opportunity at the Sioux Falls, SD Stockyards prompted their move. Marilyn worked as a bookkeeper and joined the Stockett’s helping to organize many festive events throughout the years. She would get up before 6am and walk with friends through the Sioux Falls Hilltop neighborhood. She enjoyed water activities as a member of the YMCA. Marilyn enjoyed sewing, was an excellent quilter, and member of numerous quilting groups. She sewed her daughter’s outfits when they were young and their dance dresses in their teen years. As an excellent cook, she baked and prepared meals for family and church members who always enjoyed her fare. She was also renowned for her special occasion cakes. She loved attending Lutheran Women’s Circle meetings and was a regular attendee of Grace Lutheran Church. She and Ray were often greeters. They enjoyed social and travel events with the church Shepherd group. Marilyn and Ray especially loved playing cards. They formed a pinochle group and Marilyn played regularly with a bridge club. Marilyn was blessed with seventy years of marriage before Ray passed. And now “the we” that she continued to refer to after losing the love of her life, Ray, in December 2022, shall become fulfilled as she joins him in Heaven.

Her children, Brenda (Chandler) Garrison, Barbara (Kim) Kusch, and Bradley (Marleen) Brown; ten grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren are grateful to have shared her life.

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