Marylyn Skidmore Mickelsen, 91, passed away December 5, 2022, in Manhattan, Kansas. She felt fortunate to have her son Chuck’s unwavering care for many years, including in the last months of her life at Stoneybrook Care Center.
Marylyn was born January 5, 1931, in Delta, Utah, to Evan and Eleanor Lyman Skidmore, in Delta, Utah. She grew up just outside of Delta in a farming community, Sutherland, Utah. She was the third daughter in a family of eleven children. She is predeceased by her parents and siblings; Emorett Boshell, Agnes Louise Nielson, Evan Scott Skidmore, Gordon Lyman Skidmore, Nancy Lee Todd, Nona Florence, Julie Skeem. Her brothers, Edward L. Skidmore, Gail R Skidmore and Brent L. Skidmore, survive her.
Marylyn graduated from Delta High School in 1949 and attended The College of Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah. It was there that she met Ross Mickelsen, who she married in 1952 in Manti, Utah. After Ross graduated, he served in the Air Force and was stationed in Colorado and Idaho. Children, Sue and Charles Ross, were born during those years. After his military service was completed, they returned to Logan, Utah where Ross pursued further education. That education led to a job at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas where daughter, Barbara, was born. The family then moved to Madison, Wisconsin where Scott Lyman was born. The family then returned to Manhattan, Kansas.
Marylyn did not complete her college education. Her attempts were continually interrupted by the needs of her family. She was curious and intelligent and would like to have completed a college degree. She contributed to each of her children´s college educations.
Marylyn was widowed suddenly in 1976, having been a great partner and support to Ross. She was a source of ideas and help in almost everything he did. She married again in 1989, in Manhattan to Donald Dean Lundgren, a longtime family friend and seeker of fun. He passed away in 1990. She enjoyed being grandma to his grandchildren as well as her own ten grandchildren. She is the great-grandmother of twelve.
Marylyn was practical and self-sufficient. She was accepting, non-judgmental, and lived without drama or fan-fare. She was most impressed by hard workers. She knew how to prioritize the work she did. She would donate hand-made items to the church bazaar and buy them back. The next year she would donate the same things and buy those back. Her hard work in many church responsibilities and in helping Ross led to employment opportunities, including jobs at McCall Pattern Company, a local credit bureau, and Pawnee Mental Health. She retired for a few years and then decided to work again. She took a job that didn't have enough work to keep her busy and she soon retired for good.
Marylyn was creative, and pursued crafts and projects in sewing, painting, and quilting, and home improvements. She had the talent for making things beautiful in simple ways. She loved to see beautiful places in the world.
Above all Marylyn was kind. For many years she had a clipping on a bulletin board near the phone. It read, “It is nice to be important. It is more important to be nice.”
Funeral services will be Monday December 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue Manhattan, Kansas. Please join us prior to the service for cinnamon rolls, one of Marylyn’s specialties. Interment will be held at the Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.