Marilyn Marie Blair, wife, mother, grandmother, and self-educated medical expert died on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. She was 76. Marilyn was the embodiment of patience, kindness, love, and acceptance. She was fiercely devoted to her family and was obsessed with making sure they were all fed and watered, sometimes asking several times per hour if anyone needed anything to eat. Despite her need to feed, she maintained her small ninety-pound physique her entire life by eating small (almost microscopic) portions and being in near constant motion throughout her life.
She was a devoted wife, tending to her husband Phil through 57 years of marriage. If she had practiced Catholicism she would have been canonized a saint for her work. They were always together, and especially in the last decade of her life, they never did anything without one another. She was especially obsessive about looking up medical issues that Phil might have and advising him that his doctors were probably wrong about the diagnosis, the medication, or both. More often than not she turned out to be right.
She raised her three children, Kellie, Matthew, and Melissa the right way. She loved them through all their foibles, sometimes exasperated but never judgmental. While she tried to give them everything she could, the most important gifts she gave were her love, acceptance, intuition and wisdom. She knew if something was bothering her children before they did. And she gave sage advice, even if they rarely listened when it was delivered. She was tolerant and patient, even when she had every right not to be.
Her grandchildren- Hayden, Andersen, Cameren and Dexter- became her passion after her children disappointed her and grew up to live their own lives. Fortunately, she knew how to keep her grandchildren coming over- by feeding them all the junk they weren’t supposed to have. But that was only an extra benefit. Her grandchildren loved her so much because she gave them her time and attention playing army, LEGOS or whatever game they were into at the time. She made them, and anyone else she was with, feel special and loved.
She extended the same love, patience, acceptance and more than occasional unsolicited medical advice to her sons and daughter in law George (Kellie), Danielle (Matthew) and Chris (Melissa). They were accepted into the family as though they had always been there. Marilyn was a gentle, loving soul who showed kindness to all she encountered. She loved life and found beauty in everyone and everything.
Her family will honor her memory with a private memorial for immediate family only.
In lieu of sending flowers, Marilyn’s family requests you engage in a random act of kindness to anyone who needs it to honor her memory.
Arrangements made by Muir Brothers Funeral Home in Imlay City.
