Marillyn Charlotte Jackson Zilius

I've spent quite of bit of time the last few months looking into my family's history. This weekend I couldn't help but think of my wonderful grandmother, "Nana," who passed away this time last year. The following is a beautiful account of her life:

Murray F. Tuley High School, 1939

Marillyn Charlotte Zilius, nee Jackson, was born May 29, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois, to Charlotte Ann Sjogren Jackson and William Henry Jackson. After graduating from high school, she worked as a secretary for the Off-the-Street Club and most proudly recalls her work later as a Nutritionist at the American Medical Association in Chicago. She met her future husband, Stephen Vincent Zilius, as a square dance. The two were married in Chicago on February 1, 1947, and honeymooned in Madison, Wisconsin.

1917 Newspaper Ad for the
Off-the-Street Club

With the births of their son and twin daughters, the family moved to Southern California where Stephen worked as a fluid-state and solid-state physical engineer for Bendix and Rocketdyne; and they later moved to the San Fernando Valley, where Marillyn wrote a column for the Valley News and Green Sheet. They subsequently moved to San Diego, Long Beach and the Sacramento area where they have lived since 1986. They have had an apartment at Atria Covell Gardens in Davis since 2007.

Marillyn loved music, dancing, word games, and reading with her family. She was always concerned with providing a healthy and loving environment for her family and the education of her children, and continued to be a warm and loving presence.

Steve and Marillyn at Salmon Bend
(family residence) in 2002.

She is predeceased by her brother William Raymond Jackson, and her sister Marjorie Ann Jackson Fricke. She is survived by her husband of over sixty-three years, Steve; their three children and their families, John Stephen Zil and Carolyn Ruth Peabody, Christine Marillyn Zilius Mason and Geoffrey Mason, and Charlene Susan Zilius; and their three grandchildren, Charlene Elena Carolyn Peabody Zil, Josephine Kendra Mason, and Evan Christopher Mason. She will be missed by all of us.

Marillyn Charlotte Jackson Zilius

Born 29 May 1921

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

Died 15 July 2010

Davis, Yolo County, California

Family Wake 18 July 2010

Salmon Bend (family residence) on the Sacramento River

North Sacramento County, California