Marilyn Jean Bigelow, beloved mother, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully on the evening of March 15, 2025, at the age of 82, in memory care in Sandy, Utah. She left this world due to natural causes, leaving behind a lifetime of love, laughter, and volunteer service.

Marilyn was born in Payson and raised in Provo, Utah. She graduated from Provo High School in 1960. Her first job at age 18 was as a housekeeper at Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. This deepened a love for Yellowstone that her parents started during family trips. She was a skilled patternmaker and assistant to the lead designer at LeVoys in Salt Lake City. In 1988, she moved to Ivins, which became home from that point on. A traumatic industrial injury in 1991 lead Marilyn to stretch far outside of her comfort zone and begin studying at Dixie College and then earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Utah University (SUU) in 1995. After graduating from SUU she started working at Ivins City. While working for Ivins City Marilyn discovered her true passion: volunteering at the Tuacahn Amphitheater. After retiring she continued service to her community as an AmeriCorps volunteer and substitute teacher.

Marilyn loved to go on Secret Saturday Adventurers, with her son and his friends, her nephews (and later their children), and the neighbor boys. She focused her photography on the beauty of the world as she saw it, often seeing magic in the mundane that others overlooked. Her talents as a skilled patternmaker and seamstress ensured that the young women of her Ward had professionally altered and fitted formal dresses for proms and weddings. Her love and skilled sewing, knitting, and quilting provided scarves, mittens, hats, and sheepskin slippers for warmth. She loved camping, exploring Yellowstone, hunting for rocks, wandering dirt roads, and card games.

Marilyn was warm, open, and honest, with a bright sense of humor filled with self-deprecating charm. She had an unshakable love for her family, her neighbors, and her Ward Family. She never turned down a Diet Coke or Oreo Cookie, and her heart was happiest when she was surrounded by loved ones—especially in Yellowstone, her favorite place on Earth.

She is survived by her son, Rhett K. Bigelow (Ginny Lee); her sisters: Joanne B. (Gary) Simper and Cynda (Steven) Ellis; and her brother, James (Janet) Bigelow, and numerous loved nephews and nieces. She rejoins her parents, Perry K. and Norma Gabbitas Bigelow; her brothers, Merlyn and Gregory Bigelow; and her nephew, Troy Simper in our Heavenly Father’s care.

To honor Marilyn, a Celebration of Life will be held for family and friends on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the Simper home on Goose Bay, Henry’s Lake in Island Park Idaho. Those who wish to attend but do not know the address should contact Marilyn’s son Rhett or her Sisters Joanne or Cynda. 

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