Marilyn Longden

Marilyn Longden
Marilyn Claire Toomey Longden, 91, of Fairfield, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 17, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.
Born on April 17, 1934, in Chelsea, MA, the daughter of Margaret Covino Toomey and Thomas Toomey, Marilyn or "Beaver" as many called her, lived her life with passion and purpose and a fierce love for her family and friends. She possessed a special openness and connection with people of all ages, from all walks of life. She had a strong sense of independence and drive, and she lived her life to its absolute fullest, pursuing her dreams and goals, and empowering everyone she encountered along the way to do the same.
Marilyn grew up in Revere, MA and attended Immaculate Conception School. A lover of politics and debating, Marilyn competed and won numerous oratory competitions during her high school and college years. In 1956, she graduated from Staley College in Brookline, MA, where she earned a degree in communications. That same year, Marilyn embarked upon a career in television. Uprooting her life in Boston, with little more than her big ambitions and her family's blessing, she moved to New York City. Marilyn had immediate success in New York, booking commercial and television jobs, with regular appearances on shows like The Tonight Show and Who Do You Trust, working with the likes of Jack Paar and Ed McMahon. She was a member of a select group of NBC color television models, at NBC Studios in New York, where technicians would calibrate her beautiful and flawless skin tones with cameras for their early color test broadcasts. Marilyn also became a familiar face as an NBC weather girl and host of her own shows in the years that followed, shifting her focus to her lifelong passions of journalism and politics.
Marilyn moved to Fairfield, CT in the early 1970s to raise her family. She loved Fairfield, its special community and the lifelong friends she made. She dedicated her time to making Fairfield a better place for all residents, serving on the Fairfield Parks Commission, the RTM and many other volunteer boards. She was proud to have been a member of the group that approved the beautiful gazebo on the Sherman Town Green and she often visited it to enjoy a concert or a weekend farmer's market. Marilyn built a very successful second career as a Vice President at William Raveis Real Estate. She loved working with young couples and people of all ages to find their dream home.
Marilyn's favorite role was as mother to her two loving daughters and son-in-law, wife, aunt and friend. She had endless love to give, and she gave it freely to everyone in her world. A lifelong Catholic, Marilyn was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Fairfield. Among other passions, she loved music and the arts and most of all living by the beach in Fairfield with her family and spending summers on the harbor as a member of The Black Rock Yacht Club.
In her retirement years, Marilyn loved to be at her home in Jupiter, Florida Both Marilyn and her husband, Ray built a beautiful life in Florida with friends who cherished and adored them.
Marilyn is predeceased by her husband, Ray, and is survived by daughters Christina Longden and Sarah Longden Ulc, son-in-law Kenneth Ulc, all of Fairfield, and many beloved nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Remembrance will be celebrated on Saturday, November 22, at 11:00 a.m. at Egan Chapel on the campus of Fairfield University and a reception at Black Rock Yacht Club immediately following. To send online condolences, please visit www.redgatehennessy.com