Marilyn Arleen Speth

1938 - 2016

On September 5, 2016, Marilyn Arleen (Warren) Speth, daughter of Bill and Hazel Warren, passed peacefully in her sleep surrounded by the ones she had nurtured and loved.

She was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 27, 1938. Both sets of her grandparents had arrived in the Las Vegas area during the Great Depression to work on the construction of the Hoover Dam. When she was a young girl of 4, her family moved to California and lived in Napa during WW II where her father, Bill, worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and led the effort to build the Sonoma and Napa County airfields. They later moved to West Sacramento where Marilyn went to high school at Clarksburg and then finished her high school curriculum at James Marshall High School (now River City HS) in West Sacramento in 1956. She went onto to U.C. Davis and earned a BA in History. In 1960 she married the love of her life, Leonard (Leo) and raised a family of three children.

She enriched many children's lives throughout her 27 year teaching career. Most of her years teaching where spent at John Fremont middle school in Fowler, California where she also served as Learning Director supervising state and federal programs. Active within the school district, Marilyn was an officer of Curriculum Council, chaired a program called Quality Review for Local Schools, as well as chaired the Fresno Area Reading Conference and was a member of the California State Reading Association. She retired from teaching in 1994 and moved from her residence in Fresno to Yuba City.

Marilyn truly loved to learn about history and other cultures through travel. She visited Japan, many times traveled to Europe, and crisscrossed extensively through the United States. She especially enjoyed being immersed in the outdoors and relished her trips to the National Parks including Yosemite, Lassen (Drakesbad), and Kings Canyon. She had many passionate interests and served actively at St. Andrew Presbyterian church in Yuba City and for a time was a church Elder and Ancient Mariner. She was a member of many clubs and groups including P.E.O chapter VU and was an Emeritus of AAUW Garden Club, Honorary member of the Seminar (book group), Gourmet for Lunch, and Sacramento Women's Forum. She also enjoyed genealogy and was pleased to find out that her ancestors came over onboard the Arc and the Dove in 1635 to settle Maryland.

Nothing gave Marilyn more joy than to be surrounded by friends and family. When asked what she wanted for her birthday or mother's day she would invariably say that all she wanted was to be with her family. She was selfless and kind and always concerned with the welfare of others. She is survived by her loving husband of 56 years, Leo Speth, daughters Patricia Speth (Robert Holman) of San Jose, and Cathy (Jason) Cecchini of Lodi, son Greg (Debbie) of Camarillo, Sister Linda Bergin of Fresno and grandchildren Kylie Speth, Mia Cecchini, Jacob Speth, Emma Cecchini and Shane Speth.

A memorial service for Marilyn will be held 11:00 AM, September 24, 2016 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 1390 Franklin Rd., Yuba City, CA. The family would like to thank the caregivers for making Marilyn comfortable as her health declined. The family has designated The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research for memorial contributions.

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