Marilyn J. Lewis

Age 90, of Lansing, MI, passed away December 20, 2021. Marilyn was born in 1931 in Lansing, MI to the late Howard and Frances Koehrman.

She graduated from Everett High School in Lansing in 1949.  While working as a secretary at Michigan State Medical Society, she met John W. Lewis at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio where they became dance partners.  They married in 1956 and she stopped working outside the home with the arrival of her first child.  She went on to run the Second Saturday Supper at Mayflower Congregational Church, and the food bank at North Presbyterian Church for many years.  She supported the American Red Cross, donating in excess of 10 gallons of blood, and was also an avid knitter, crafting and donating thousands of pairs of mittens to local children.

Gardening was always part of her life and her hard work fed the church suppers, her family, and the children in her daycare center with wholesome organic food.  She and her husband traveled to every state in the country as well as to Europe.  They were members of the RV community at Pleasure Point in Six Lakes, MI for many years, as well as the Cribbage Board Collectors Society (#60).  Both sang and played in the church and bell choirs. Marilyn was a longtime league bowler at Cedar Lanes, Lansing Recreation, and Pro Bowl West.

Family was always Marilyn’s center, and the focus of her life.  She is survived by her children, John K. (Jerrilynn) Lewis, Karen I. (Randy) Schaffner, Mary C. Lewis, Cheryl D. Lewis, and Wesley H. (Karen) Lewis; grandchildren, Bonnie J. (Adrian) Hemond, Brian C. Lewis, and Joshua N. Lewis; sister, Viberta A. (Alan) Conn; and numerous nieces, nephews and extended family members. She was preceded in death by her husband John in 2011, and by her sister and brother-in-law Joyce E. (Stanley) Gustafson.

Her funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 30, 2021 at the Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel. Interment will follow in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. Her family will receive relatives and friends beginning at 12:00 on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to North Westminster Presbyterian Church.