Marilyn Stevens

Marilyn Stevens passed away peacefully at her home in Los Alamos on Sunday morning, November 30, surrounded by her loving children and faithful dog.

Marilyn Watkins was born in Minneapolis MN in 1933. When she was five, her family moved to a farm outside Carlton MN (about halfway between Duluth and Lake Wobegone) where she grew up. Many of Marilyn’s family stories and memories were centered there. Marilyn was the youngest of 6 children and grew up during World War II. Her oldest brother, Harold, served in the war, and was killed in Italy in 1943. Marilyn was a very beloved aunt to many nieces and nephews and spent many years helping to raise them, which gave her a distinct advantage in becoming a wonderful mother to her own children later in life. She went to Macalester College and the University of Minnesota and earned her degree and credentials in education. She taught primary school in Alabama for several years prior to switching careers and accepting a secretarial position at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Marilyn drove across country in her Studebaker to start a new adventure in New Mexico in 1957.

Marilyn met a handsome young physicist, Ralph Stevens, in 1959. By all accounts it was love at first sight, and after only one date they got engaged and were married three months later. Her children still consider that shockingly out of character, and they are pretty certain that if they had done this, they would have received a stern lecture. However, Marilyn and Ralph were happily married for nearly sixty years up until Ralph’s passing in 2019. Their marriage has been an inspiration to their children and many other friends and family over the decades.

Marilyn and Ralph had their first child (Sally) in 1961, prior to moving to Baltimore MD, where Ralph started his PhD in nuclear physics at Johns Hopkins University. They spent several happy years in a small apartment near the university where they welcome two more children (Bob and Anne) and Ralph completed his thesis - which Marilyn typed up on a manual typewriter in addition to raising three toddlers. The growing family returned to Los Alamos in 1966 and in the ensuing years moved into their beloved home of over 5 decades and welcomed their fourth child (Rebecca). Marilyn always kept her love of teaching children and played an active role in many aspects of her children’s school and extra-curricular activities, as well as volunteering countless hours to tutor children struggling in school or with learning English as a second language. Marilyn and Ralph welcomed many neighborhood children, foreign exchange students, resident medical students, lab post docs and guests from all walks of life into their home over many decades and have kept friendships across the world. They have been considered adoptive parents and grandparents to countless cherished extended family members. Their children have been touched to hear from many people how Marilyn and Ralph have made them feel like they were family, and how generously Marilyn listened and offered them generous hospitality and love.

Their friendships were enriched through many travels throughout their lifetime, including spending six months living in Switzerland, where Ralph took a sabbatical position at the Paul Scherer Institute in 1978. They took many trips to visit Marilyn’s family living in Norway and Taiwan, as well as visiting children who lived at various times in Germany, Austria, and Great Britain.

Marilyn loved being a mother and grandmother. Her six grandchildren and many grand dogs all cherished times spent with her going on walks in the canyon and working in the garden. Marilyn delighted in the many hours spent making macaroni and cheese or cookies, watching Monsters inc hundreds of times and laughing every time, inventing games and stories to kindle the imagination of her grandchildren, and making sure each grandchild and grand dog felt loved and cherished.

Marilyn was an active part of her church community (Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and previously Crossroads Bible Church) where she taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. Among her many talents, Marilyn was an accomplished calligrapher and calligraphed created many concert programs and posters over the years. She sewed all three of her daughter’s wedding dresses, played flute and piano and sang in the Los Alamos Choral Society. She has likely already joined the heavenly choir.

Marilyn is survived by her four children and six grandchildren. She was the last living sibling in the Watkins family but is survived by a sister-in-law and brother-in-law. and many nieces and nephews.

The family would appreciate donations to the New Mexico Library for the Blind, which generously provided audio books for her voracious appetite for reading when her eyesight deteriorated. Marilyn was also a longtime supporter of Self-Help Los Alamos and Espanola Humane Society and would be happy for any contributions to these organizations made in her honor. Most of all, the family hopes that her legacy of generous listening and unstinting hospitality will be carried on in the lives of all those who knew and loved her.

Please visit www.riverafamilyfuneralhomes.com to leave condolences, stories, and photos for the family to cherish.