Marilyn Usinowicz

USINOWICZ Marilyn (Eggerling) Usinowicz. January 10, 1946 to October 15, 2009. Beauty, dignity, grace, courage, determination, and inspiration describe Marilyn. The youngest of Gustav and Rosemary Eggerling's three children, Marilyn was born in Englewood, N.J., and spent her childhood and high school years in Pompton Lakes, N.J. Marilyn loved the water, and from a very early age was swimming at The Point in Pompton Lake, Double Trouble in Toms River, and off her father's hunting island in Barnegat Bay. She competed in water ballet and synchronized swimming, and was a lifeguard at public and private pools during high school summers. Marilyn was a teen beauty pageant queen and swimsuit model. Marilyn was a gifted athlete in an era of pre-interscholastic women's sports, and often embarrassed the boys in grammar school by her abilities. She was vice president of her graduating high school class. Marilyn also loved the arts, and enjoyed going to "The City" for Broadway plays and musicals, ballet, Greenwich Village, the many museums that New York has, and that love of art continued through her life. Wherever she lived - Iowa City, Ann Arbor, Coopersburg, Pa. or Columbus, Oh. - she patronized the arts community. She also was an artist, and she studied one summer at the New York School of Interior Design, perusing the Third Avenue antique shops, visiting museums, and enjoying Broadway matinees. She enjoyed the Columbus Symphony and the museums in Columbus, and she loved the Picnic with the Pops with a cadre of good friends. Marilyn earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Home Economics and Interior Design at the University of Iowa, and worked in the arts community at the University of Michigan. In Pennsylvania, she owned an interior design business, and she achieved elegance from simplicity to complexity in her designs, which were matched to her clients and not to her ego. Marilyn married her high-school sweetheart, Paul Usinowicz; and has two daughters, Maren Schreiber and Lara Usinowicz, both of Evergreen, Colo.; and a granddaughter, Kristina, daughter of Maren and Rod Schreiber. Marilyn was a strong supporter in women being their own persons, and became a "Mom" to not only her daughters, but to many of their friends in that she listened and mentored to their needs and issues. When confronted by fourth stage ovarian cancer eleven years ago, Marilyn faced the challenges of multiple surgeries and treatments by taking to the water again, teaching deep-water aerobic classes at several local rec-centers. Marilyn inspired her students and others by her determination to fight as long as possible by being back in the pool, leading demanding classes, shortly after major surgery or while undergoing the multiple regiments of chemotherapy that she had. Marilyn was nominated by her class and selected in January of this year as one of Sunny 95's "20 Outstanding Women That You Should Know." Marilyn also helped others who had gynecological cancers through her involvement as a charter member of the James Women with Gynecological Cancers support group. Marilyn was like the matriarch of the group, as she used her experiences and knowledge of the impacts on women's lives of these cancers to mentor especially the younger women challenged by these cancers. Marilyn lived her life with dignity. She unselfishly gave of herself to help others. She faced a formidable challenge in her cancer fights, and inspired many by her courage in fighting an unbeatable foe. Marilyn will return to the water as part of an Eternal Reefs project, which incorporates her ashes into a reef structure that provides habitat for sea creatures. Those wishing to may make a donation in Marilyn's memory to either the Mountain Foothills of Evergreen Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 1918, Evergreen, Colo. 80437-1918, earmarked for "Maren's Kids" of the Evergreen Park and Recreation District or Colorado Special Olympics, or to The HERA Women's Cancer Foundation, with note of Lara's fund-raising efforts for that foundation, P.O. Box 6147, Denver, Colo. 80206. Or simply, Marilyn said to plant some daffodils, her favorite flower, in her honor, and to think of her when you see daffodils blooming. There will be no calling hours or services. As Marilyn wanted, friends are invited to share time, some wine, good music, and each other's company on Sunday, November 1, 2009, at Paul and Marilyn's home at 537 Wynridge Court, Powell, Oh., between noon and 5 p.m.