Marilyn Jones Andre

Marilyn Jones Andre was a proud Columbia native. Born to Robert Taylor (Bob) Jones and Kathryn Saphronia [Stegner] Jones, her parents built the first house in the Parkade subdivision where she attended Parkade Elementary School in its first year (1958) for fourth grade. She and her classmates would ride their bikes throughout the neighborhood and frequently play in Bear Creek.

One of her “Parkade Sisters” relates that some of her classmates would give her money and while Marilyn spent afternoons at her father’s gas station, she would walk to a nearby drugstore and buy candy for them the next day at school! She and one of her fellow Blue Birds would use the service station as a source of customers for the annual Camp Fire Girls candy sales. They were constantly among the top sellers in town.

Marilyn’s grandparents owned and operated the Home Café, located near Business Loop 70 and Rangeline. The cafe was known for their Parker House style rolls, a recipe of her Grandma’s which has been passed down through the generations. She spent a considerable amount of time at the cafe and her grandparents near-by home where cousins would come to stay. The weeks spent with her older sister, Dorothy, and cousins at their grandparents house were filled with fashion shows, canasta, and trips to the corner store for pints of ice cream.

Her father, Bob, owned several wrecker and service stations at the same intersection, which led to several of Marilyn’s favorite stories to share. Most notably, being awoken in the middle of the night to ride an elephant down the newly constructed I-70 while her father worked to re-right the circus vehicles that had been involved in an accident. Due to servicing the City of Columbia vehicles, Bob had a close working relationship with police officers, leading to embarrassment as a teen. She would always laugh telling the story of being pulled over on a date, with the officer leaning down to ask, “Marilyn, does your father know you’re out with him?”

When Marilyn’s father became ill with the same leukemia that Marilyn would eventually be diagnosed with, she was by his side nightly in the hospital, even while attending MU and working during the day. After his passing, she continued to work and go to school, eventually paying off their home.

After initially majoring in Finance/Accounting she switched to Elementary Education. The rest, as they say, is history. She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education in 1972. She went on to earn an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction (1979), Specialist in Elementary Administration (1986), and the class work for a PhD in Elementary Education, all at M.U. She was dual licensed by the State of Missouri as a teacher and an administrator.

Marilyn’s emphasis, and passion, was literacy - teaching children to read and write. She taught in the Columbia Public Schools for forty-one years, all of which were spent at Robert E. Lee Expressive Arts Elementary. Marilyn was one of the group of five founding teachers who designed and implemented the Expressive Arts Program at Lee.

Throughout her career she led art and literacy in-services for the Lee faculty, the Columbia Public Schools and districts around the state. She worked with elementary literacy researchers from M.U., using her classrooms for hands-on application and observation of cutting- edge literacy principles. Marilyn has presented this research at local, state, national, and international conferences and has consulted in various school districts around Missouri. Marilyn worked in leadership roles on countless committees in the Columbia Public Schools as well as being the Liaison to the Board of Education for the Columbia Missouri State Teachers Association. She was a long-time active member and officer of Teachers Applying Whole Language (now MMLLA). Marilyn co-authored articles for teacher journals and contributed to chapters of a book about children’s literature.

Despite her numerous abilities, she chose to remain where she loved to be - in the classroom working with children. She often related that the best experience was to watch the face of a child when they “got it” on a particular principle.

In August of 1985 Marilyn and Paul agreed to go on a blind date. Paul was finishing his Masters Degree at M.U and was seriously considering a PhD elsewhere. Marilyn was also finishing degree work and loved her career teaching in Columbia. Both were simply looking for a relationship with someone of similar age with whom they could share a casual social life. Neither thought too far into the future. To say things moved rather quickly would be an understatement; after a matter of a couple of weeks they decided to get married and were officially engaged by Thanksgiving. About 6 months later (February 1986) they were married at the Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia. During this brief period of time, Marilyn had to constantly change how she referred to Paul, (from friend to boyfriend to fiancé, and finally to husband) when she introduced him to friends and colleagues.

They worked together to sketch out a plan that would allow them to share a life that both would find fulfilling. After merging two sets of household belongings into the basement, they decided to follow Marilyn’s career. This meant Paul finding a job (in Agriculture) locally. Just days after defending his M.S. thesis, he began working at the Missouri Department of Agriculture in Jefferson City.

Throughout the years of long commutes, work related travel, education conferences, and the plethora of all the other good, the bad, and the ugly things life tends to throw at people, Marilyn and Paul worked together to solve the problems and smooth the rough patches creating the best life possible. Marilyn was Paul’s best friend…forever.

Mark was born in April of 1987, with Kaitlyn following three years later. Marilyn was a constant support to her children and a safe-haven to run to in times of need. She passed on her love of family, learning, baking (especially her grandma’s rolls), and gardening. Mark and Kait spent numerous weeks helping set up and pack away the classroom at Lee each summer, and then attended the school that Mairlyn was so devoted to. She loved driving them to school in her silver Volkswagen Beetle convertible each morning. As the kids left Lee, Marilyn was there for every moment of dance, basketball, band, and soccer, always cheering loudly.

She continued her close relationship with her family, spending countless Thanksgivings and Christmases with cousin Julie, her husband Tom, and their daughter Karen. These holidays continued to grow as children and grandchildren were born, getting louder, more crowded, and exponentially more fun.

After retirement from the Columbia Public Schools she worked briefly as an Adjunct Instructor for an Early Childhood Literacy course at M.U. She then found joy in tutoring children privately. She was immensely proud of these students, being able to work with some for years, watching them grow and flourish.

Marilyn was active in the Boone County unit of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association achieving Unit President in 2022. She was also the Legislative Chair for MMLLA (formerly TAWL) and Membership Chair for The Fortnightly Club (M.U.). She was concerned with the direction of proposed legislation related to education and worked tirelessly with legislators and educators to inform them about the pros and cons of such legislation.

She loved retirement. It gave her the opportunity to travel with Paul on new adventures of exploration and learning.Whenever an excuse to travel for weddings or other events presented themselves, they would always search out other destinations to experience enroute and in the area. During the pandemic, Marilyn and Paul would spend Fridays traveling around Missouri to visit various Conservation Areas and State Parks where they could remain isolated while learning about and experiencing new parts of Missouri. Because they were

constantly looking to explore new areas, it eventually became difficult to find areas for day-trips that would provide challenging new experiences. With the ebbing of the pandemic came the hope that they would again be able to venture out into the world to safely visit more of their bucket list destinations.

She and Paul also shared a love of History; especially family history. Hours were spent on computers and in libraries delving through archives for minute facts about obscure relatives, and sometimes large discoveries, like when Paul found that Marilyn was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone’s brother, George. Marilyn and Paul loved to combine travel and genealogy. Whether a day trip to tramp northern Boone County cemeteries, a research trip to the Del-Mar-Va Peninsula, or a side trip to explore Booone heritage in Pennsylvania, they were always looking to learn as much as they could, and enjoy the trip of just being together.

Although she wore many hats throughout her life, the role of “Bama” to Elvis might have been her favorite as Marilyn was made to be a grandma. She was happily there many nights at 2:00 am to hold the baby so that Kait could sleep, and later adored when Elvis would come for sleepovers, always making pancakes in the morning. She was delighted at any opportunity to spoil Elvis, especially when it came to sharing her love of chocolate. They’d pick strawberries and tomatoes, build legos, read, and bake. Elvis already shares his Bama’s love of baking, having received several lessons on making his great-great grandma’s rolls.

Her most recent excitement came from Mark's engagement to his longtime girlfriend, Heather. While Marilyn already considered her family, she was overjoyed at the idea of celebrating them and officially welcoming Heather into the Andre family.

Throughout each of her 73 years, she was a steadfast, supportive, and devoted friend to everyone she knew. She forged countless life-long friendships spanning decades. She’d always manage to bump into someone she knew no matter where she went, even when exploring the Cliffs of Moher on a family trip to Ireland. She never quite perfected the art of a “quick” hello, instead chatting happily away while her family could be found patiently waiting nearby. She’d frequently stay up well past midnight to wait for a phone call from Kait on the way home from bar shifts. She’d even worked to master social media, if for no other reason that to be able to show off Mark’s photos. She was a cheerleader in times of triumph, and a shoulder to cry on in times of pain. She radiated joy. The resounding sentiment shared about Marilyn was that when anyone needed her, she was always there.

Marilyn leaves behind the love of her life, Paul, her son Mark and fiancé Heather Cipu, her daughter Kaitlyn and her beloved grandson Elvis. Her joyful presence will be missed by countless cousins, friends, colleagues, students, and acquaintances.

A public memorial will be held March 25, 2023 at 1:00 at The Atrium in downtown Columbia. The family invites all who knew her to join them in celebrating her illustrious life.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to the BRTA Scholarship Fund or the Fortnightly Scholarship Fund.