Cloudy, 30° F
(May 18, 1934 - Nov. 20, 2014)
Marilyn Zirker Messer died peacefully on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 80.
Born May 18, 1934, in Roosevelt, Utah, to Julius and Fern Wall Zirker, she was the second of four sisters. Following her graduation in 1952, she moved with her family to a farm in Moses Lake, Wash.
Marilyn earned an elementary education degree from Brigham Young University in 1956. She married Darrell Rodenbeek, an Air Force fighter pilot, in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple on Aug. 20, 1957. Darrell died in a plane crash on June 5, 1958, and their daughter, Darel Lyn, was born two months later on July 24.
She and Darel Lyn remained in Moses Lake, where she taught first grade for the next five years.
On June 1, 1963, Marilyn married Don Messer in Moses Lake. She became a homemaker and their son, Brett, was born one year later. In 1966 the family moved to Bozeman, Mont., where their daughter, Keri, was born. They moved to Cody in 1978 and later she was a substitute teacher, worked for Nancy’s Video, and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West education department.
Marilyn was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She loved the Lord and devoted her life to serving others.
She loved being a grandmother to her 17 grandchildren and six great-grandsons. She enjoyed drawing and painting, camping, riding horses in the mountains and spending time with her extended family.
Marilyn is survived by her husband, Don of Cody; daughter Darel Lyn Stolworthy (Jess) of Spokane, Wash; son Brett Messer (Patsy) of Centerville, Utah; daughter Keri Millward (Cody) of Derby, Kan.; sisters Shirley Bjornstead, Ardis Whitaker, Carolee Snyder and Pam Zirker; and brother Ed Zirker.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake Center at 1407 Heart Mountain St. in Cody and burial will follow in Riverside Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to the Park County Animal Shelter.
