Marilyn Williams

Marilyn Bolanz Williams was a courageous woman of keen intellect who lived life with passion and vivacity.

Marilyn came to Alaska in the early 1950s, as she wanted to experience the last frontier. That is also where she met her husband Bill Williams, another fellow adventurer and a Tlingit Indian. His family paid her the highest honor when they adopted her into a clan and gave her a Tlingit name.

She and her husband were active in politics. They were also both members of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood, where she recently served as historian. At the same time, they both built a unique life where they raised five children in the Anchorage area.

Marilyn and her husband Bill were employed at the Alaska Native Medical Center for almost 30 years.

Marilyn loved to cook, to write, to garden and to travel. She learned fluent Spanish and wrote several books, one of them about the history of Tlingit totems. She was a longtime member of the Buddhist group Tromge Ling where she found a strong sense of community as well as spiritual meaning.

Marilyn, her family wrote, was a true citizen of the world and believed in social justice.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill Williams, and is survived by her daughter Anna and son-in-law Nick, her daughters Maria Williams and Gloria Williams, daughter Carmen and son-in-law Chris Bydalek, her son Frank Williams of Arizona, her sister Gloria of Florida, and her granddaughter Sabrina, and numerous nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on Tudor and Lake Otis from 2-4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Tromge Ling Buddhist Center 1001 East Fireweed Lane, Anchorage, AK 99508, or The Boomer Esiason Foundation (http://esiason.org).