Marilyn Jane Grant
September 27, 1932 ~ December 28, 2016
Marilyn Jane Grant of Cleveland, Ohio passed away peacefully in her sleep from a stroke. She was 84 years old having been born on September 27, 1932.
To know Marilyn is to have known life. Hers was an unusual and quirky life that took her all over the world.
First the strokes. Our Mom was never known for exercising or dieting or doing any of the fad activities people do to stay in popular vogue. She worked hard, played hard, ate what was good, drank what was satisfying and never did it affect her health. We loved her fight and persistence; and in spite of so many close calls in her life, she kept on rebounding and coming back stronger. We don't necessarily think the stroke took her but rather that after such an exhausting life, she decided that one of her famous naps was in order. We agree. Without pain or suffering, she fluffed her pillow and feel asleep.
Marilyn spent her formative years in Franklin, Pennsylvania, being the youngest of eight children born to Darrell and Elizabeth Masters. She adored her brothers (Harvey, Richard, Willard, Byron, and Warren) and loved her sisters (Elizabeth and Eileen). Theirs was the typical large, Pennsylvania-Dutch, post-depression family.
As a teenager, Marilyn was very social and active in her high school particularly taking great pride in her work in the school year book. It was also in high school that she developed and became known for her art.
When the Korean War came along, she enlisted in the Women's Naval Reserve. While stationed in Bethesda, Maryland, she meet a rowdy Navy seaman, Earl Grant and thus began a romance that lasted over 60 years. The two of them together created a lifetime of adventure, highlights and valleys a life worth living. Earl continues their adventure in New Braunfels, Texas.
While most people in the early sixties were responding to President Kennedy's new Peace Corp program, the young couple decided to follow their faith and become medical missionaries in the newly formed country of the United Emirates. Moving overseas with five young children (Kevin, Kim, Holly, Chris and Sara), Marilyn set up home and began working at the Burami Oasis Hospital as the financial accountant for the hospital.
The best gift of the mission field was the birth of our youngest brother, Ian, and who's untimely passing in 1987, crushed all of us, particularly Mom and Dad.
What emerged from that experience in the mission field was Mom's true bohemian spirit to welcome all to her home; to be curious about religion and culture and mostly to encourage and root for the underdog. These traits describe her best and defined who she wanted to be and what she wanted to give to this world.
Being a pastor's wife is relentless, constantly being watched and judged on every move. The expectations can be overwhelming for most. However, Marilyn defined that role through her faith and embracing her zeal for life with unique traditions, particularly during the years at our home in Burbank. We remember Passover Satyrs, game nights, all sorts of intellectual soirees but mostly we remember the incredible range of people who would be welcomed guests of Marilyn. Everyone mattered to her. She stopped to be interested in those with whom life had forgotten or ignored. She ate with the unwelcomed, rejoiced with the misbegotten and always rooted for the underdog.
Another thing about Mom, she loved old Bette Davis movies for that matter just about any black and white film that included Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Olivia de Haviland or Lauren Bacall. So when she got a job at the Burbank Studios and later at Sony Pictures, Marilyn felt as close to her film heroes as ever particularly for a small girl from Cleveland.
Her later years were filled with visits to and from her 12 grandchildren and their families: Ryan, Vanessa, Jack and Liam Meyer; Sara Meyer; Laura and Luke Grant, Breanna Grant, Kaylee Grant, Molly Grant; Kathy Berg; Jenny, London and Payton Berg; Wes and Stacia Berg; Adugna Grant; Quinn Pierson; and Ian Pierson. They all adore her and feel a great loss of grandma.
In the end, our family mourns the passing of a bright spirit that made this world a little bit more inviting, curious, adventurous, welcoming, kind and generous. It can be said that Marilyn Jane Grant was a loving Wife, a generous Mom, a dotting Grandma, a true Friend. And now, the heavens declare, a good and faithful servant.
A graveside service with military honors is scheduled for 10:00 AM on Monday, January 9, 2017 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
So wonderful to have known Marilyn/She really did have such a great personality/thanks to the family for having us share you brunch in her memory/Make sure that Earl get’s in touch with me in the near future so I might show him around /what a wonderful family/joe and Gayle cagianut
Prayers to the family. I had the privilege of being Marilyn’s hairdresser a few years back. I miss out conversations. Please tell Earl I send my condolences. I was also his hairdresser and if he can email me sometime I’d love to correspond. Thank you
Dear Earl and family, I am so sorry for your loss. Marilyn was so special. Ted and I always enjoyed our special time’s with you. I will be praying for God’s arm’s around you on this Journey through Grief. In Christ’s Love, Dee Beck