Marilyn L. (Flickinger) Green

Marilyn Lora Flickinger Green, 87, died Sunday evening at her home in Sandy Lake, surrounded by family, with a book in her hand and a beloved dog at her side.

Born Jan. 25, 1932, she was a daughter of Marion B. and Lora M. Weeks Flickinger.

She grew up and graduated from the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home in Xenia, Ohio.

Despite that early separation from family, she made nurturing a family the priority of her life, along with her husband, Leeland V. Green, whom she married on March 17, 1951.

A woman of deep faith, Marilyn was a member for many years of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Greenville.

Trained at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and at Thiel College in Greenville, she used her God-given talents as a piano teacher and church organist for 45 years. She helped hundreds of students learn their first notes, often while her family ate dinner in the next room.

A woman of many interests and considerable energy for much of her life, she served as a Girl Scout leader, church youth leader, church secretary and town librarian.

Friends and family knew she was even more than that.

She was a bread maker who baked life-affirming cinnamon rolls, a dog lover who never stopped spoiling her pets, a pair of hands in constant motion who knit countless sweaters, a bird lover who marked the arrival of the Baltimore oriole on her calendar each year. She was also an avid gardener who always thought there was room for one more plant in her yard, and a voracious reader who left her thoughts in starred-reviews inside the cover of books she passed along.

Above all else, Marilyn was fiercely proud of the family she loved. A grandchild’s question about the nature of God was answered with a notebook full of explanations that anticipated what other questions she might have. Others enjoyed the benefits of chats at the kitchen table or long, thoughtful emails.

She leaves behind her husband, who survives at home, and five children, Randall L. (Patricia) Green of Sandy Lake; Les V. (Karen) Green of Saint George, Utah; Sheri L. (Rick) Stouffer of Irwin; Jennifer L. (James) Martin of Sandy Lake; and Janelle A. (Dennis) Martin of Sandy Lake.

Also surviving are 12 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 17 nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Strayhaven Animal Shelter in Greenville, where she adopted a number of her beloved dogs over the years.

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