Marilyn L. Cortright

The Dance of Marilyn L. Cortright

Some people walk through life — Marilyn danced through hers, guided by a sense of delight in every step.

On October 4, 2025 — just hours after celebrating her daughter Amy’s birthday — Marilyn took her final bow. The moment felt like a tender duet, completing the circle of life between mother and child: together at Amy’s first breath, together at Marilyn’s last.

Born in Morristown to C. Robert Brown and Mildred Gunsel Brown, Marilyn moved through the world with an artist’s heart, and dance was her essence. Tap, ballet, and jazz became her ways of praise and connection. She studied at The College of New Jersey and earned her master’s at Rutgers University, carrying her poise from the dancefloor into the classroom.

She met the love of her life, Timothy Cortright, on a blind date. The connection was immediate, and they quickly married in 1970 and built a warm, music-filled home in North Plainfield, raising daughters Jill and Amy with sunlight, creativity, and love.

For more than 30 years, Marilyn’s classroom was her stage. She inspired generations of students to learn, imagine, and shine. At Adamsville School in Bridgewater-Raritan, her annual class performances were a favorite tradition, a lively display of courage and childhood wonder. Later, she continued to nurture young minds as a reading recovery specialist and the director of the after-school program at the Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church in North Plainfield, where her guiding presence lifted both children and adults through women’s and marriage groups alike.

Dance remained her soul’s expression. Through the New Jersey School of Ballet and the Liturgical Dance program at her church, she found sacred meaning in merging movement with worship — graceful offerings to both God and her community.

Marilyn’s artistry extended beyond the stage: she filled scrapbooks with family memories, traveled often with Tim and her girls, and revelled in every moment spent with her grandchildren, Violet and Jackson. Her life was carefully choreographed — each step intentional, each gesture full of kindness.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Tim; her daughters, Jill and Amy; her cherished grandchildren, Violet and Jackson; her brother, Kenneth Brown (Patricia); sister-in-law, Margie Decker (Ronald) — and a wide circle of extended family and close, loving friends.

Marilyn’s dance may have ended, but her rhythm carries on — in the lessons she taught, and in the quiet grace of all who move through the world because she once did.

Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 4:00PM on Sunday, October 12, 2025 at Cusick Funeral Home, 80 Mountain Avenue, Somerville.

Funeral services will begin at 11:00AM on Monday, October 13, 2025 at Bound Brook Presbyterian Church, 409 Mountain Avenue, Bound Brook.