Marlyn J. Miller

A Visitation will be held for Marlyn J. Miller at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palatine on Saturday, October 30, 2021 from 10:00a.m. until the time of the Funeral Service at 11:00a.m. The Reverend Donald Antor will officiate. The Burial will immediately follow at Randhill Park.

Marlyn Jean Miller of Palatine, IL entered eternal rest on Sunday, October 24, 2021.

Marlyn was born October 5, 1931 to George and Alma (née Schroeder) Miller of Palatine. She is mourned by three nieces; Sandy Miller (Troy) of Cincinnati, OH, Donna Longman (Eric) of Rogers, AR, and Debbie Kilgore (the late Keith) of Birmingham, AL; great-niece Emily Lundquist (Alexi) of Baltimore, MD and great-nephew Christopher Longman (Lynne) of Hattiesburg, MS. She is predeceased by her parents and two brothers, infant Donald Miller, and Ken Miller and wife Jackie.

At her baptism, Marlyn was claimed as a child of God and began a lifetime of membership in the family of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Palatine. She attended Immanuel Lutheran School, and on March 25, 1945, she confirmed her faith, choosing Psalm 26:8 as her confirmation verse: “O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.”

After Palatine Township HS, Marlyn attended Concordia Teachers’ College in River Forest, IL, earning a Three-Year Teacher Training Diploma in 1953. She returned to earn a B.S. in Education in 1957. Sixty years later she was an honored guest on campus (now Concordia Univ Chicago) to celebrate the graduation of great-niece Emily from the same program. Marlyn continued her studies with an M.S. in Education from Northern Illinois Univ in 1969.

Although Marlyn enjoyed her first teaching assignment in Albuquerque, NM, she chose to return home to the Chicago area. She taught at St Paul Lutheran in Mt. Prospect for a decade, then spent many years at South Jr High in Arlington Heights, retiring in 1993.

Marlyn was also an avid reader and a world traveler, visiting more than 25 US states and 35 countries, from Fiji to the Arctic Circle, Machu Picchu to the Rose Bowl.  She often traveled with friends, and with her nieces on occasion. Marlyn flew in hot air balloons, climbed Ayers Rock, rode a camel, and crossed rope bridges. She was fiercely independent and loved by her friends and family.