Marilyn Kathryn Mockel entered into rest on September 9, 2021, with her three children by her side after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Marilyn was a Valentine’s Day baby, born February 14, 1934, to Jesse and Clifford Mockel in Bozeman, Montana. A third-generation Montanan, Marilyn grew up on a ranch in the Crow Creek Valley near Toston, Montana. The family later moved to Townsend, followed by Bozeman and Dillon.
Marilyn graduated cum laude from Montana State College (now MSU) in 1956 with a BS in Home Economics and Teaching. In addition to numerous academic honors, Marilyn played leadership roles in many of the clubs and activities she participated in. She was a cheerleader, sang in concert choir, twirled baton, and won several crowns. She made lifelong friends as a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and was proud to be one of three women joining seven men in the Phi Kappa Phi Big 10 Honor Society.
In 1956 she married Marvin Peterson at Christmastime in Dillon. The couple had three children, Paula (Kim), Peggy, and David.
Marilyn later married Al MacSween in South Lake Tahoe, California, and gained two stepchildren, Jim and Joyce MacSween. The couple moved back to Bozeman in 1974 and later divorced.
Not only was Marilyn an exceptional homemaker and loving wife and working mother; before her career as a successful interior designer and seamstress, she taught secondary education, and was a professional model. She never stopped learning and meeting challenges.
Marilyn will be missed by her family: children, Kim Peterson, Peggy Ryan, and David (Lianne) Peterson; grandchildren, Joel and Brent (Amber) Goligoski, Wade (Madeline) Fellin, Kyla (Rydell) Reinbold, Caitlin Ryan, Jon (Alia) Peterson, and Anna Peterson; great-grandchildren, Olivia Garcia and Kinsley Goligoski; sisters, Carol Jones and Bette March; niece, Dawn Tolson; nephew, Brad (Kim) Tolson; and cousins Linda (Larry) Hughes and Marcia Cox.
Funeral Services will be held at 1:30 P.M. on Sunday, September 12 at Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service, followed by interment at Sunset Hills Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Family Promise of Gallatin Valley, www.familypromisegv.org.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service.
