September 21, 1935 - July 15, 2023
Marilyn Sandra (Smith) Marrs died Saturday, July 15, 2023 in Windsor, Colorado. She was 87.
Known as a feisty and loving “Gma” to her family, Marilyn worked for many years in child protective services, foster parenting and adult protective services for Boulder and Weld Counties. During her long career, she served as the administrator for the Longmont officer of Boulder County Social Services and then as Morgan County Director of Human Service, serving on a number of boards that helped set social service policy at the state level. She retired in 2005, but continued to maintain her credentials as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and provided consulting services to several counties.
She was born Marilyn Sandra Smith, the youngest of the four “Smith Sisters,” on Sept. 21, 1935 to Milford Schofield Smith and Gladys Owens Smith in Greeley. She valued family all her life and she could always be counted on to listen and offer whatever was needed, whether it was advice, sympathy, a laugh, or a ruthless game of Pit. She especially enjoyed spending time at the cabin her parents built near Jamestown, which is still used and loved by her family.
Marilyn earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1957 followed by a master’s in social work from the University of Denver in 1972. In 1958, she married Carl Neihart, who passed away in 1977. She later enjoyed a short but love-filled marriage to Aldean Marrs; the two were wed in February 2011, just ten months before his death that December.
She loved singing, playing the piano, writing poetry and oil painting, though she always downplayed her own talents. Her faith remained important to her all her life.
In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by two of her sisters, Eleanor Crowe and Marie Kemis. She is survived by her sister Jean Herring; her daughter Debbie Bentley and her husband Michael of Wiggins; by four grandchildren: Heather Rochat and her husband Scott of Longmont, Jamie Hargett and her husband John Sievert of Parker, Brad Hargett and his wife Rena of Aurora, and Jeremy Bentley of Wiggins; two great-grandchildren: Riley Harford and Emma Sievert; and numerous nieces and nephews and cousins.
“Good memories are gifts from God,” Marilyn once wrote. She left behind many of those gifts for her loved ones to share and they will be treasured always.
Marilyn’s funeral and memorial service will be held Wednesday, July 26th 2023 at 10:00 am at the Love Collective Church, 2525 Van Buren Court, Loveland, Colorado. Viewing will be July 25th, 2023 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Kibbey-Fishburn Funeral Home, 1102 Lincoln Avenue, Loveland, Colorado. Internment will be at Mountain View Cemetery, Longmont, Colorado.
