Marilyn D. Arden

Marilyn D. Arden passed away surrounded by the loving arms of her family at the University of Chicago Hospital on Monday, April 30, 2007. She was 74.

Born as Marilyn Joan Dyce on August 20, 1932, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, she was the daughter of Elton James Dyce and Evelyn Buchanan Dyce. After Marilyn spent her early childhood in Guelph with many happy summers at their cottage on Georgian Bay, the Dyce family moved to Ithaca, New York.

The family lived in the countryside where Marilyn enjoyed the natural beauty of the Ithaca area, with its gorges, open fields, lakes and rivers. She had a horse named Tony, and attended a little red school house. She helped her father, a professor of entomology at Cornell University, in his honey house. Summer vacations were spent at a family cottage on an island near Parry Sound, Ontario. The Island is still a special retreat for the Arden family, thanks to Marilyn.

After graduating in 1950 from Ithaca High School, Marilyn attended Cornell University, where she earned an MA degree in Art Education. It was there she became reacquainted with her high school classmate, Charlie. Marilyn and Charlie were married in 1957 at the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca.

Marilyn experimented with many forms of art, especially painting and drawing, and held her first job as an art teacher in Groton, NY. Her first child, David, was born in Ithaca in 1959. The family moved to Staten Island in 1960, where her daughter Carolyn was born. In 1964, they moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, where her last child Nancy was born. They lived in Plainfield in a cozy home with a big yard filled with flowers, trees, and woods. Marilyn enjoyed gardening, and was involved with the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield. She took her children on many day trips to explore cultural and outdoor sites. Summers were spent in Ithaca and at the cottage in Canada.

In 1972, the Arden family moved to Winnetka, Illinois. They lived there for 22 years. Marilyn worked for Scott Foresman Publishers for 10 years during that time. She became adept on the computer there, which became her favorite way to communicate with family and friends.

In 1994, Marilyn and Charlie moved north to Lindenhurst, Illinois. For 13 years, Marilyn enjoyed the peace and tranquility of her lakeside home, where she was able to pursue two of her favorite pastimes - birding and gardening. Marilyn was a member of many organizations dedicated to nature and the environment.

Marilyn will be remembered by her family as strong, loving, curious, and generous. She was quietly determined, and brave in the face of her illness. She took great pleasure from nature, found peace and renewal in the outdoor world, and drew artistic inspiration from its beauty. She loved nature, gardening, bird watching, art, and her children and grandchildren, and inspired her family to do the same. She cared deeply for her family and friends, both old and new, far and near. Much of what she did with her life was for others. She was always concerned with the needs of family, neighbors, and friends, and she was a good listener for people of all ages.

Marilyn is survived by her husband, Charles E. Arden, Jr. of Lindenhurst, IL; son David E. Arden of Yarmouth, ME, and his wife Terri; daughter Carolyn Arden Malkin of Westport, CT, and her husband John; daughter Nancy E. Arden-Rice of Geneva, IL, and her husband John; four grandchildren, Hannah, Asa, Melony, and Sydney; and her brother Rolf B. Dyce of Aguadilla, P.R.

An Open House to Celebrate Marilyn's life will be held at the Arden home in Lindenhurst on the afternoon of Saturday, May 19, 2007, from 1:00 to 6:00pm. A Memorial Service is planned for this summer in Ithaca, New York, date to be announced later.

The family asks those who wish to make a memorial contribution in Marilyn's name to kindly consider the Dyce Laboratory (named for Marilyn's father who spent his career furthering the study of bees and honey production), Cornell University Department of Entomology, 6130 Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, or the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, P.O. Box 11, Ithaca, NY, 14851-0011.

Page submitted by: Joseph L. Sibley, Director