Marilyn “Yvonne” Walsh was born in Saint Catharine, Missouri in Linn County on July 24, 1937 to John Richards and Ruby (Sappington) at their home. She moved to Kansas City, Missouri as a child with her mother and younger sister after her father fell ill and passed away.
Their mother Ruby raised them and provided for them by mending, cleaning, and keeping houses for other families. Though her childhood was rich with joy and family, they moved often, and Marilyn longed for a more permanent and tangible sense of home.
She attended Northeast High School in Kansas City, and worked as an Executive Secretary to the President of Kline’s Department Store when she graduated in 1955. In the late 1970s, Marilyn became a secretary at Commercial Bank in Liberty (which later became Commerce Bank) and she retired in 2009.
She met the love of her life on a blind date a month after her sixteenth birthday. When she’d tell the story, the first thing she’d mention was that he had a nice voice; the second was that her mother had to talk her into going. His name was William Patrick Walsh. The two were married on April 8, 1956. They raised their three children (Kelly, Shannon, and Kasey) in the northland area, and they later moved to the country to retire and raise cows in 1990.
Marilyn liked to paint, to turn tags at the thrift shops, to spend time with her family and close friends, and to go on long drives. Her favorite pastime was to sit on her porch swing and listen to the birds. In her later years, she was lovingly known as “Grandma Nana”.
After a long struggle with cancer, Marilyn decided to stop treatment. She chose to go home, to enjoy a can of Coke, and to finish her days on her own terms. Her last two weeks were spent at the home she had built with her late husband, surrounded by those she loved. “My children have been the joy of my life” were some of her last words.
Marilyn died peacefully at the age of 86, in the early morning hours of Sunday, January 14, 2024 at home in her own bed. She leaves behind her sister Bonita, her three children, her six grandchildren, oodles of great-grandchildren, and a butterfly garden filled with pink roses.
Services for Marilyn Yvonne Walsh will be as follows:
Saturday, January 20, 2024
McGilley Antioch Chapel
3325 NE Vivian Road
Kansas City, MO 64119
1:00 – 2:00 PM Visitation
2:00 – 3:00 PM Celebration of Life Service
Private Burial immediately following at Newcomers White Chapel Cemetery
In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in her memory.
