Marilyn L Birkby

Marilyn Louise Johnson Birkby was born on September 25, 1941 in St. Francis, Kansas. Her parents were Lee W. Johnson & Fern R. Headrick. Marilyn grew up in McDonald, Kansas where she was a spirited child. She once let out a †œwolf whistle†� when the school teacher was walking down the street and ducked in a shop doorway so it appeared that her grandfather, the town marshal, had been the one to whistle. Her father was a carpenter and his job brought the family to the Denver, Colorado area in 1955. Marilyn graduated from Denver South High School in 1959. In 1960 she married Dale A. Birkby. The couple made their home in Denver, Colorado and raised their two daughters, Sandy & Pam. Marilyn was a stay-at-home mom for several years but when Pam started school, she began a career as an administrative assistant with the City & County of Denver. She worked in the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Employee Medical Clinic at what was then called Denver General Hospital and finally at the Treasury Department. Marilyn retired in 1998. Then she & Dale set off to see the world in their motor home. They enjoyed traveling through the US and Canada and crisscrossed North America from Alaska to Florida and Nova Scotia to southern California. Hawaii was the only state they did not visit. In addition to travelling Marilyn†™s hobbies included dogs, crochet and genealogy. Marilyn & Dale were members of the Northern Colorado Saint Bernard Club and produced the club†™s newsletter for many years. They showed St. Bernards and then had Sealyham terriers as pets. Marilyn traced her family†™s roots and has 19,737 people on her family tree with another 7572 on Dale†™s side of the family. Her family remembers family reunions where she brought several volumes of history to share with others and tell stories. She also assisted other genealogists by participating in the †œFind-a-Grave†� project where families could request pictures of grave sites of loved ones and volunteers like Marilyn would go take pictures of the grave and upload it to the Find-a-Grave website. She and Dale photographed all the Graves in several cemeteries in western Kansas. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Roberta White, and brother, John Johnson. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Dale and by her daughters, Sandy Birkby and Pam Heise. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.