Marilyn Larkin

Marilyn Anderson Larkin was born on June 24, 1934 in Rockford, Idaho to Claus Albert and Iris (Wray) Anderson. As a child, she contracted Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, and her parents sent her to Salt Lake City, Utah for treatment. She was away from her family for several months and the therapy was painful and frightening. She returned home with a stubborn determination to do everything that every other person could do despite having limited motion in her hands, elbows, ankles, and shoulders. She was in constant pain for the rest of her life, but she never complained. Shortly after her eighth birthday, her father unexpectedly passed away. Her family moved to Riverside, Idaho to live with her grandparents, Hyrum Monks and Vivan Estella (Smith) Wray. Despite these hardships, Marilyn had a wonderful and happy childhood surrounded by siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and numerous cousins.

She graduated from Snake River High School in 1952 and left home to attend Brigham Young University where she met Larry Shirk Larkin, a handsome Navy Veteran who had recently returned home from the Central States Mission. They fell in love and Larry proposed marriage behind the Smith Fieldhouse. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple for time and all eternity on December 16, 1955 and were never away from each other for more than a few days for the next sixty-two years.

Larry graduated from BYU, and they moved to Salt Lake City for a year. From Salt Lake City, they moved to Buena Park, California where they could watch the fireworks at Disneyland from their backyard. In 1961, Marilyn and Larry moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where they lived for 37 years and were pillars of faith and kindness in the community. They purchased a lot where Marilyn planned to build her dream home. Shortly after beginning architectural plans, Larry was called to be the first Bishop of the LDS 29th Ward, and Marilyn set her plans aside. In 1973, they finally moved into their stately Georgian home.

In 1998, they moved to Larry’s boyhood home in Willard, Utah where they built a lovely Victorian cottage. Larry passed away on December 2, 2017, and from that moment Marilyn wanted nothing more than to go and be with her beloved husband. They had been inseparable in life and not even death could keep them apart for very long. On March 29, 2018, Marilyn Larkin, having been true to her faith in Jesus Christ all her life, heroically crossed through the veil to join her beloved husband Larry and to see her parents again. She is anxiously awaiting that great day when she will be together for all eternity with every member of her family in the Celestial Kingdom of our God.

Marilyn was exactly obedient to the commandments of God and was always ready to help any who stood in need. She and Larry served in the England Bristol Mission for eighteen months, and they served a Church-service Mission for nearly twelve years at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. They were ordinance workers in the Las Vegas Nevada and Ogden Utah temples.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, Larry Shirk Larkin, by her parents, Claus Albert and Iris (Wray) Anderson, and by her brother Kenneth Albert Anderson. She is survived by her sister, Marjorie Rae (Lloyd) Merrill and by five children and their spouses: Scott Albert and Dianna (Fergus) Larkin, Todd S. and Laura (Cornelius) Larkin, Nancy Jo Larkin, Mindy Leigh (Larkin) and Stephen Tracy, and Dana Paul and Hwajin (Oh) Larkin. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren: Samuel, Daniel, Kathryn (Brandon), Connor, Jordan, Levi, Alisquette, Tyler Tracy, Madeline Tracy, Stephen Todd Tracy, Paul, Angela, and Ashly; and one great-grandchild Matthew Wright.

 A viewing will be held on Monday, April 9, 2018 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with services following at 11:00 a.m., all at the Willard 2nd Ward, 7615 S 665 W, Willard Utah. Interment will follow at the Willard City Cemetery.