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Marilyn Hampton
Just a few short months after her 91st birthday, my sweet grandma, Marilyn Hampton, was called home. She passed away Nov. 1, 2019, in the same small town and on the same land she grew up on. Marilyn was born in Blue Mound, Kan., to parents, Harold and Erma (Smith) Green on Sept. 9, 1928, just before the Great Depression.
She was one of 23 kids in the Blue Mound High School Class of 1946. She grew up going to dances all over the countryside – Cadmus, Colony, Fulton, Fort Scott, Mound City, Iola, etc. Her first job was a telephone operator manually connecting calls. Marilyn rationed during WWII and prayed that the war would be over before her boyfriend (Grandpa Joe) made it out of tank basic training. She cried in the kitchen and tried to comfort her kids with cookies after JFK was shot. She sent a son to Vietnam, a daughter into nursing, and another son into natural gas operations. Marilyn loved Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, Elvis’ hymns, Tommy Dorsey Band, but hated the Beatles and their hair cuts! She loved Truman, Eisenhower and Reagan. She learned to cook from her mom (Granny Green) and her grandma (Grandma Skippy). She loved to make butterscotch pie, chocolate pies, baked chicken with real cream, and steak. Marilyn’s sewing circle was one of the most well-oiled grassroots operations in western Kansas and her telephone tree rivaled most presidential campaigns. She traveled the U.S. in a fifth-wheel with her second husband, Curly. She loved to sew, crochet, and quilt. Marilyn had a not so mini cat named Mimi Grace. She was a Christian, and had the kindest blue eyes.
She is survived by her sons, Marshall Mills and wife Lynette of Ulysses, and Jerry Mills and wife Marietta of Albuquerque, N.M.; daughter, Jane Irsik of Mapleton; step-daughters, Cindy Fenton and husband Kevin of Holcomb, Kan., Donna Schell and husband Dave of Ulysses, Terri Trotman of Ulysses; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
Marilyn is preceded in death by her parents; and husband, Curly. To say she will be missed is an understatement. God’s porch swing is gonna get quite the workout in the coming days, as she has a lot of people to see and a lot of catching up to do. We can see her now, swinging with Granny Green, faithful old hound dog at their feet, snapping beans and swapping stories in a nice cool breeze…no pain, no dementia, no worries.
Funeral service will be Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, at 2 p.m. at the Shelton Memorial Christian Church in Ulysses with Reverend Kelly Gindlesberger officiating. Interment will follow at the Ulysses Cemetery. Friends may call Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, from 2 until 8 p.m. at Garnand Funeral Home in Ulysses. Memorial contributions may be given to the Ulysses Animal Shelter in care of Garnand Funeral Home, 405 W. Grant Ave, Ulysses, KS 67880. Condolences may be posted at www.garnandfuneralhomes.com.