I first met Marilyn, a few months after her husband passed away, approximately in late February, early March. I was sitting next to the Office of our Apartment Complex and Marilyn walked up to me and asked if my little dog was nice enough that she could pet him. I said "No! he's a Jeckel and Hyde doggie" She thought that was silly and said to me. "Your funny!" 

That was our first ever meeting and lasting account of our ongoing friendship. I had no idea of the things that Marilyn would be asking of me or be going through for the next several months or year.

It was only a few days, and I saw Marilyn again and she was asking me if I could help her with something. That was the beginning of our friendship. Marilyn was such a spunky lady and also an outgoing person. She asked me if we could share phone numbers so if she had any questions she could call and ask me anything.

I quickly realized that Marilyn was the daughter of Ralph H Yanke, and Anna Louise Yanke, and she had two brothers, David Ralph Yanke, and William Bill Yanke.

We got to know each other through the stories we told and also the places my husband and I took her to see. Marilyn would ask, if we could take her to seeing her old family home here in Boise and go visit places she hadn't seen for a while. We also drove her to Garden Valley during the summer, and unfortunately it was too smokey at that time to have a picnic. She also asked to go visit the "Yanke Museaum" which we did here in Boise Idaho.

Marilyn would talk about her family history and the "Yanke Families" that were already here in Boise and how her Dad Ralph H Yanke first started work at the Yanke Machine Shop when they moved here to Boise from Wisconsin. Marilyn was only 3 years old when her parents moved clear from Wisconsin to Boise Idaho. 

Marilyn told us about how she went to school each and every day from her family home in the south end of Boise and that she would walk in fields and more fields just to go to school.  Her family home was located just South of Boise and Near Baggley Park, and Park Center BLVD.

Marilyn would talk about the good old days when she was a young woman and said that her family would have BBQ's often and that sometimes the whole neighborhood would show up. She would talk about her mother who was only in her 40's passing away from Cancer. She talked about how she loved visiting places here in Boise and that she would have lots of fun with her two brothers, when she was a child.

She would talk about how she loved School and how she loved to go dancing and playing cards at her family home. She talked about her mother who passed away at a very young age and how she missed her.

She talked about her Stepmother who her father met and married after her mother passed away.

Marilyn would talk about how she loved animals of every kind, and that she felt bad for the ones that would get let out by other neighbors in our neighborhood and left to roam. Marilyn's heart was the heart of gold for any pets that she would come across. 

Marilyn would talk about the days when she worked for the Banks here in Boise Idaho and how she came upon getting her jobs with the Banking Systems.

Marilyn was a very smart and very educated woman. She attended college here in Boise and eventually met someone and got married. Marilyn never had any children due to her health reasons. She enjoyed many activities, such as sewing and knitting and crocheting. 

Marilyn would talk about the time she and her husband lived in Garden Valley Idaho and lived there and met some nice people in and around Crouch Idaho.

Marilyn talked about the friends she made in Garden Valley and how they had helped her and her husband once when they lived in Crouch Idaho. Until they had to move from Crouch Idaho to Boise Idaho.

It was a culture change for her as at that time Boise was growing very fast and she wasn't certain of if her husband would be able to work full time or not. Moving to Boise from Garden Valley, was a stressful time.

Marilyn was glad when they settled here in Boise at Carriage Crossing, she would walk to the Albertson's often to go shopping and get exercise. She enjoyed the shops and area where they lived. 

She also spoke about her nephews and family that she loved and missed seeing for a very long time and wished she could see them again.

Marilyn was a very loving and kind person, she loved the outdoors, and she loved visiting with people she got to meet. She liked walking around the neighborhood and getting sunshine, when she was able.

She would call me and my husband almost each and every day and sometimes 3-4 and 5 times a day to ask us questions about anything that crossed her mind, or to ask if we could take her to the store for groceries or to just go shopping for something to do.

Marilyn loved her LDS Church Friends and Family, and she wished that they had loved her as much as she loved them. She would talk about the friends she made, and the things she would do for them. 

She made friends and enjoyed visiting with them every chance she had. That was the highlights of her life.

When she wasn't knitting or crocheting for the local fair, she would be going to Church and visiting with her church friends and doing many activities.

Marilyn was a very interesting and lovely woman, and she would give anything to helping anyone out if she could. That was the kind of person she was. 

Later in the fall of 2024, when Marilyn was seeing her Dr's, they gave her some very grim and startling news, she was diagnosed with a lump in her Breast, that would later become the fight for her life.

Marilyn will never be forgotten, as her memory will always live within us. She enjoyed life and she enjoyed staying busy. She enjoyed her knitting and crocheting and sewing. Even though this last year had been hard on her, with the loss of her husband Myles Bassford, Marilyn endured through everything her Dr's had talked to her about, with her diagnosis. Marilyn even said that her Dr's gave her praise for not complaining about her cancer issues, which she seemed to like. 

Marilyn will be forever missed and cherished by her many friends she's made over the last several years.

May she rest in God's Grace, and may we remember the positive things Marilyn did for her community and also for others.