Marilyn Jeanne Vought

On September 6, 2021, Marilyn Jeanne Vought, age 84, of Beverly Hills, Florida, left this world after multiple complications from a fall. Her husband, Ron Vought, and her daughter, Robin Tzivanis, were at her side. Marilyn’s journey through life touched many people who will all remember her for her feisty but loving nature, including her son-in-law James Tzivanis, numerous extended Vought and Tzivanis family members, her half-sister Kathy Congdon and her family, the Pitzeruse and Campbell families, and many other friends she "adopted" into her life. Marilyn never met a stranger. Every person she encountered was a new adventure for her. As a result, her life was full of people she considered family, related or not, who were all special to her. It’s impossible to name them all.

Marilyn’s early years were hard. She grew up on a farm, married very young, and had Robin when she was eighteen. Her daughter was the light of her life. Robin learned everything she ever needed to know from her mother, even from Marilyn’s mistakes. Robin has always said that her mother was a "force of nature", and someone to emulate but not cross. In the end, that sixty-five-year-old bond created a strong friendship between them that was filled with laughter and shared secrets. When saying goodbye, Robin said, “Mom, keep listening, because I’m sure I will still be talking”.

Marilyn was a hard worker who had several jobs, but driving school bus was the most important one. Marilyn drove for the Palmyra-Macedon school system in upstate New York for twenty-seven years and was driving her third generation of children to school when she was forced to retire due to problems with her knees. To her dying day, stories about her "kids" brought her to tears, or peals of laughter. She was known as "Mrs. P" to kids in every grade, who knew that if they followed her rules, they would have the strongest ally imaginable. The stories about her tenure all show exactly who she was: fair, tough, in-charge, funny, and loving.

Her forced retirement, and move to Florida to be near Robin, created a gap in her life that was filled when she became a volunteer for the local police department and earned the Volunteer of the Year award on several occasions. She "adopted" countless officers, and other volunteers and workers, and became known as "Grandma". She went on ride-alongs, worked in the robbery division, and kept everyone fed with cookies. This work also led to the next thing she loved: being a "Nana" to a beautiful young baby, who became a beautiful and accomplished young woman. Marilyn always called her "Little One", though her name is Katherine. Katherine, her parents, and Marilyn are family in the truest sense.

When Ron came into Marilyn’s life, she finally had the opportunity to have a different kind of existence, including traveling more than she’d ever experienced, and living in financial security with a partner she trusted. In her typical way, she covered the depth of her feelings with her humor and rough pet names, but the last seventeen years with Ron were the best of her life in many ways.

Marilyn Jeanne Vought touched many lives and no one will ever forget her. She was not the kind of woman you could ever forget.

Friends will be received on Sat., Sept. 25, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:00 P.M. in The Riverside Room at Wilder Funeral Home, 4890 S. Suncoast Blvd., Homosassa, FL 34446, where a Celebration Of Life will commence at 2:00 P.M. with Pastor Wainly Barber officiating. A reception with refreshments will follow in the Riverside Room. Inurnment will be private at a later date at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, FL. www.wilderfuneral.com