Obituary for Marilyn May (Stofer) Pardon
Marilyn May (Stofer) Pardon passed away at StoryPoint Senior Living in Saline, Michigan, on December 3, 2020, at the age of 89. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, George and Beulah (Hartsuff) Stofer; her brothers, Melvin and Robert Stofer; and by her husband, Richard Charles Pardon, who passed away January 5, 2018. Surviving are their children, Steven R. (Suzanne) Pardon of Henderson, Nevada, Janice L. (Martin) Brewer of Saline, Michigan, and Susan G. (John) Scorzelli of Plymouth, Michigan. Marilyn and Richard have six grandchildren: Joshua and Dana Pardon, Ryan Brewer, Kelly (Gary) Witt, Jason Yaeger, Sarah (James) Nowlan, six great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
Marilyn was born May 11, 1931, in Chelsea, Michigan. Her mother died when she was just one year old. Accordingly, it was decided that she would be raised by her maternal grandparents, Melvin and Emma Hartsuff. Throughout her elementary school years, the family lived on Lohr Rd., southwest of town, where they raised rabbits during the depression and bought their milk from a dairy just across the road. During that time, she attended Mills School, an old fashioned one room schoolhouse. Returning to Ann Arbor, they first resided on North Revena Boulevard, attending Slauson Junior High School. They eventually moved to a beautiful old home on Church Street near the University of Michigan’s Central Campus. Marilyn graduated in 1949 from old Ann Arbor High School, located then on the corner of State and Huron Streets.
On December 22, 1950, she married her husband Richard at the First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor.
Marilyn earned her Bachelor of Library Science degree in 1966 from Eastern Michigan University, and completed her education with a Master of Arts in Library Science from University of Michigan in 1973. She was a librarian for her entire teaching career, first for Dexter Public Schools, then with the Willow Run Public Schools. She retired from her teaching duties in 1992. In her first few post retirement years, she assisted the librarian at Abbot Elementary School in Ann Arbor on a part time basis.
Marilyn was very proud of her English-German heritage. She spent many hours over the years researching her ancestors on both sides of her family. Along the way, she was awarded Michigan’s Sesquicentennial Pioneer Certificate in 1987 in recognition of an ancestor who settled in Michigan on December 31, 1837. In 2015, she became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution which requires documentation that traces one or more ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War.
Richard and Marilyn traveled extensively during their retirement, both domestically and abroad. Those well-deserved excursions included many annual post-holiday trips to Las Vegas. They continued to travel well into their 80’s.
Funeral services will be held at the Nie Family Funeral Home on Liberty Road at one o’clock p.m. on Thursday, December 10, 2020. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions the service will be by invitation only. However, it will be streamed on Facebook Live. For those who wish to utilize this service, instructions will be provided for those in need of them. Interment will follow immediately at the Pardon family plot in Forest Hill Cemetery.
The family extends our grateful thanks to her caregivers of several years, Marsha Hendrickson, Peggy Jones, Carol Sutton, and Peggy Hanley, who kindly and ably assisted Marilyn in her daily activities prior to her residence in StoryPoint. Many thanks also to the resident and hospice staffs of StoryPoint Senior Living/Laurus Home Care for their dedication and their excellent care of Marilyn during her final days.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations the Humane Society of Huron Valley; 3100 Cherry Hill Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.
Marilyn was born May 11, 1931, in Chelsea, Michigan. Her mother died when she was just one year old. Accordingly, it was decided that she would be raised by her maternal grandparents, Melvin and Emma Hartsuff. Throughout her elementary school years, the family lived on Lohr Rd., southwest of town, where they raised rabbits during the depression and bought their milk from a dairy just across the road. During that time, she attended Mills School, an old fashioned one room schoolhouse. Returning to Ann Arbor, they first resided on North Revena Boulevard, attending Slauson Junior High School. They eventually moved to a beautiful old home on Church Street near the University of Michigan’s Central Campus. Marilyn graduated in 1949 from old Ann Arbor High School, located then on the corner of State and Huron Streets.
On December 22, 1950, she married her husband Richard at the First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor.
Marilyn earned her Bachelor of Library Science degree in 1966 from Eastern Michigan University, and completed her education with a Master of Arts in Library Science from University of Michigan in 1973. She was a librarian for her entire teaching career, first for Dexter Public Schools, then with the Willow Run Public Schools. She retired from her teaching duties in 1992. In her first few post retirement years, she assisted the librarian at Abbot Elementary School in Ann Arbor on a part time basis.
Marilyn was very proud of her English-German heritage. She spent many hours over the years researching her ancestors on both sides of her family. Along the way, she was awarded Michigan’s Sesquicentennial Pioneer Certificate in 1987 in recognition of an ancestor who settled in Michigan on December 31, 1837. In 2015, she became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution which requires documentation that traces one or more ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War.
Richard and Marilyn traveled extensively during their retirement, both domestically and abroad. Those well-deserved excursions included many annual post-holiday trips to Las Vegas. They continued to travel well into their 80’s.
Funeral services will be held at the Nie Family Funeral Home on Liberty Road at one o’clock p.m. on Thursday, December 10, 2020. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions the service will be by invitation only. However, it will be streamed on Facebook Live. For those who wish to utilize this service, instructions will be provided for those in need of them. Interment will follow immediately at the Pardon family plot in Forest Hill Cemetery.
The family extends our grateful thanks to her caregivers of several years, Marsha Hendrickson, Peggy Jones, Carol Sutton, and Peggy Hanley, who kindly and ably assisted Marilyn in her daily activities prior to her residence in StoryPoint. Many thanks also to the resident and hospice staffs of StoryPoint Senior Living/Laurus Home Care for their dedication and their excellent care of Marilyn during her final days.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations the Humane Society of Huron Valley; 3100 Cherry Hill Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.