Marilyn Wexler

Marilyn Pasternack Wexler, 86, passed away in her sleep early Friday morning, September 5, 2014, holding the hand of her beloved husband, Alvin Wexler. Marilyn and Alvin had just celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary two days earlier in the Hospital. Marilyn was born on a cold morning, December 19, 1927, in Natchez, Mississippi, and grew up in Ferriday, Louisiana. Marilyn had a beautiful voice and sang in the choir throughout her younger days. She attended Ward Belmont in Nashville, Tennessee, and then went to Louisiana State University where she met the man of her dreams, Alvin Wexler. After they were married, they went on their honeymoon in Cuba. When they returned, Alvin, an OB-GYN doctor, enlisted in the Air Force and they were sent to Ellington AFB, just outside Houston. At that time, the Korean War was going full blast. Soon after arriving at Ellington, Alvin received orders to be shipped out, but he was the OB doctor for the Base Commander's wife who was pregnant at the time. She made sure Alvin didn't go anywhere and they made Houston their permanent home. Marilyn and Alvin raised 3 children. She was able to pass on her love of classical music to her son Darryl, but couldn't do anything with her other rock and roll children, Shelley and Stephan. Although she never went to medical school, she didn't feel she needed a degree to tell anyone what to do when they were sick. She had an incredibly quick wit, always matching one-line zingers with her brother, David, and her children. She did not hesitate to speak her mind. She was an amazing cook, especially known for her blueberry cheesecake and delicious Caramel Custards. She was the mom that all her children's friends would come to talk with, and she always had suggestions for them. For the last 30 years, she would clip articles from newspapers and magazines that she thought her children and grandchildren should read. Then, on the weekends, she would drive around the city and drop off manila folders stuffed with articles with the children's names on them. In 2007, she was hit broadside by a pickup truck and life flighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital with massive injuries. Luckily for her, Dr. Red Duke was on call that day. After several operations and 3 bouts of sepsis, Marilyn was finally discharged as the oldest living survivor of 3 months in Shock Trauma ICU at Memorial Hermann Hospital. She amazed everyone who came in contact with her. Seven weeks into her stay in the ICU, we knew she was going to make it when, a few days after she woke up, she wrote, "Tell Alvin to pay off the night nurse and get me someone else." After leaving the ICU, Marilyn didn't let anything or anyone keep her down. She had an endless zest for life. She and Alvin continued to go out to eat, to the symphony, to the opera and to family events. A few years ago, she had a setback and started having trouble breathing. It quickly got worse and Marilyn had to be rushed to the hospital. A few days later, one of her doctors said he was really worried about her because she wasn't following commands. We explained to him that he needed to come up with another way to monitor her recovery because all of her life she had never followed commands. The only person who she ever took orders from was our loving Beulah Fay Williams, who took care of her "Ladybug" for the past 20 years. Marilyn told her family that she didn't want to live if she had to have a permanent tracheostomy. When asked why, she said she wouldn't be able to tell everyone what to do, and writing it down just didn't have the same impact. But she was willing to compromise when she found out that she could get a speaking valve for her tracheostomy. She was a truly unique and wonderful wife, mother, and friend to everyone she knew. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, Marcus and Mathilda Pasternack, her brother David Pasternack, her son Darryl Wexler, her grandson Brandon Edelstein, and her beloved cousin, Shirley Schmidt. She is survived by her treasured husband of 64 years, Alvin Wexler, her children Shelley Edelstein and Stephan Wexler and daughter-in-law Deasa Turner Wexler, grandchildren Andrea and Jeremy Edelstein, Noah and his wife, Kari Wexler, Logan Wexler and Turner Graydon Hall, her sister-in-law Carole Pasternack, son-in-law Howard Pollack, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Memorial Hermann Foundation Life Flight Fund, 929 Gessner, Suite 2699, Houston, Texas, 77024, Attn: Sharonda Taylor or The Howard Pollack Scholarship in Memory of Darryl M. Wexler, c/o Moores School of Music, University of Houston, 120 School of Music Building, Houston, Texas, 77204-4017. Services will be held at 11 AM, Sunday, September 7, 2014, at the Woodlawn Cemetery, 1101 Antoine, Houston, Texas, 77055.